Connections
by iDemon101
Summary: Bruce Wayne struggles with duality as he struggles to maintain the balance between his duty as Batman, and his happiness as Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile the Joker forms an association of super-criminals to take revenge on the Bat. Batman x Wonder Woman
1. Joker's Eleven

A small band of renegade villains gathered around a small fire outside of a cave just outside of Metropolis. Their numbers had been plucked thin by the mighty assaults of the Justice League; most were nursing injuries that ranged from from scratches and bruises to broken limbs.

Lex Luthor stood in the back of the cave, grimly pondering the horrible failure of his plot to resurrect Brainiac. He violently cursed himself for allowing his plan to go so horribly awry; with the end of his plan came the end of his hope to reunite with Brainiac. Luthor sighed to himself in discontent. He would have to begin his plans from scratch; he had lost his vast wealth, as well as most of the muscle that he had acquired in the form his fellow supervillains. He knew that most of them had no loyalty to him, and would have no qualms about squealing on him in exchange for leniency. That many witnesses to his crimes would ensure a sentence that even the master criminal himself would have trouble squirming out of.

As Lex pondered his future, he heard a completely unwelcome cackle echoing from the entrance of the cave.

"Lexy old chum, it's so wonderful to see you again!"

Lex knew that voice all too well- he looked to the entrance of the cave to see the rest of his gang of villains cowering in fear. At the mouth of the cave stood a a tall man with greasy jet-black hair, a pale face, and a permanent smile that haunted the dreams of many of the Earth's people. His yellow eyes glinted with mirth as he laughed at a joke that was apparent only to himself.

"I was _oh so dissapointed_, when I found that you had decided to form another fun little club without including me!"

"What do you want, Joker? Have you come to taunt me? The Secret Society is no more... We have no more purpose anymore."

"Au contraire, my shiny-headed friend. I can see an unlimited amount of uses for a team of super-powered evil-doers!"

"Well then you're straight out of luck, clown. This is all that's left."

To illustrate his point, Lex waved his arm at the remaining band of mostly wounded villains. Most would be of little use to anybody. With the exception of Killer Frost, Bizarro, and Sinestro, most of them were just worthless pawns, lacking in any form of power or intellect. Upon seeing them, the Joker frowned sharply. It was a terrible sight. However, the frown quickly returned to the sickening smile.

"Well then... I guess that it's a good thing I brought my friends along! You see, we Gothamites were very hurt when you chose to pass us all over for your little gang, and well... Let's just say that we all agree that we deserve our fair shot at the Justice League. So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the magnificent JOKER'S ELEVEN!"

Right on cue, the Joker's cohorts entered the cave.

"Lex Luthor and associated losers, meet my friends; Harley Quinn, the Penguin, Two-face, The Riddler, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Clayface, The Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, and Bane. How's that for some fresh blood?"

"Impressive. But why go through all the trouble? You seem to do well enough on your own."

"Oh, you know me Lexy. Anything to play a fun little game with good old Batsy!"

"Fine, but you can have your fun however you want. Why do you need me? The Justice League has already blown my best plans to hell," snarled Lex. He obviously wanted nothing to do with the Joker's sick plans.

"Oh, Lex... What am I going to do with you? I am truly astounded by your lack of imagination. Just think of it; with your cunning rational genius, and my cunning irrational genius, we could be the ultimate team with the ultimate scheme!" The Joker once again burst out in insane laughter.

Lex frowned. "I don't know what you're planning, and I don't care. I want no part of your disgusting operations."

"Ah Lex... You always were such a downer. And that's why you don't have a choice in the matter! You're coming wether you like it or not!"

The Joker snapped his fingers, and the present members of his gang stepped forward menacingly. Lex could see that he was outnumbered, and sighed in defeat.

Having finalized his victory, the Joker laughed to himself. "I just knew that you'd be able to see it my way, Lexy! Right this way, everybody! Our good ol' buddy Mr. Cobblepot has arranged for a palne, as well as a base of operations for our little club! What a swell guy he is! Can we get a round of applause for him?"

Some half-hearted clapping was heard from the former Secret Society of Super Villains, and the man who had been introduced as the Penguin took a shallow bow.

"Now let's be on our way! We have a world to terrorize, and it won't wait forever!"

The Joker took one last look at his surroundings, until he heard Harley calling: "C'mon, Mista J! The Plane is ready ta go! The Joker strolled toward the plane, rubbing his hands in anticipation of all the fun he was cooking up. He boarded the plane, laughing maniacally as he began to formulate his plan.


	2. Downsizing

Author's note: Sorry the beginning was so slow... I hate to say it, but it won't pick up for a little bit. Fortunately, I been writing up a storm and I already have six chapters finished, and a seventh well on it's way. I'll try to make the chapters a bit longer as I go, but the first few might be a bit short and slow. Just for the record, I'm setting this right after the last episode of Justice League unlimited, but the story will probably contain some content from comics/ movies. I may even throw in a Marvel guy or two... Just because. But more on that later. The next few chapters will be up soon, as soon as I can come up with some decent titles, all reviews would be appreciated, just so I know that people are reading. Thanks in advance- iDemon101

Batman stepped out of the Justice League headquarters interrogation room to face Superman, The Flash Wonder Woman, and J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter.

"They're all claiming that they don't know where Luthor's hiding. We'll have to keep searching for him on our own. He's got to be near Metropopolis; there's no way that he'd go on the move with the whole world on the lookout for him."

Wonder Woman interjected; "We should keep trying to crack them. I could use my lasso of truth, or J'onn could try to scan their minds-"

"If Batman couldn't get an answer, then neither will anybody else." Interjected Superman. "We don't have any time to waste. Lex Luthor is a dangerous man, and we can't let him loose for too long without running the risk of another serious catastrophe."

"What's the worst that he could do?" asked the Flash. "Brainiac's gone forever, his assets and property have been confiscated, he's lost control of his company, and he _still_ doesn't have any superpowers. He's like a declawed kitten. I mean, sure, he's a bad guy, but at this point he seems like a pretty harmless one."

Superman smashed his fist into the wall, leaving a large dent. "NEVER underestimate Lex Luthor. You should know that by now. Time and time again, he's proven that he's capable of rising to power from nothing. It would be nice if we could trust him to lie back and wait for us to get to him, but that won't happen. He's just the wrong combination of greedy and stubborn."

"Okay, fine, just calm down, Big Blue... I'll get on that then..." And in the blink of an eye, The Flash had vanished in a blur of red."

"Did anybody else notice that he wasn't headed toward the teleporters?" Asked Wonder Woman.

"He was going to the kitchens," said the Martian.

Batman shook his head as he walked away. "Typical," he muttered to himself.

-Later-

The original seven members of the Justice League gathered in the conference room to determine the league's next course of action.

"We've lost too many league members recently. Darkseid's attacks have left many of our allies too weak to fight." Superman stated. "Not to mention that Government suspicion is up again. Darkseid was our enemy, but they still associate him with us. Not that they're wrong. Darkseid only attacked because of me. I don't think that they'll allow us to continue our operations as normal."

"That may not be an issue," Batman said. " We can win them over easily enough with a sign of goodwill. I say that we temporarily disband the league for now. We can regroup later, but for now, there shouldn't be many problems. With most of our more resilient enemies behind bars, and most of our teammates injured, it wouldn't hurt to cut back on league membership for a little while. By my calculations that we would do fine to cut back on league membership by about eighty percent."

"Your reasoning is sound. We shall put it to a vote. All in favor?"

In response to the the Martian's call, the heroes raised their hands. Only Shayera Hol, the former Hawkgirl, refrained. She bit her lip and looked at the table.

"Shayera, are you opposed to the motion?"

"I don't know... It doesn't seem right. I don't know if we should let our defenses down like this just yet. I think that we should stay prepared. Anything could happen, and we should be prepared for anything that could happen. It's impossible to say who's out there, and when they could strike. We shouldn't hand out opportunities for them."

Green Lantern interjected; "Nonsense, we could handle most threats when there were only seven of us. And even then we didn't use the whole team. While there's no question that the world needs a Justice League, there's no need for an organization of this size. We're too big. Most of our member just end up sitting on their asses half the time anyway. We can't even keep track of ourselves anymore. We should be able to keep a select few guys to keep on patrol, and be fine in the end."

J'onn cut in before further arguing could begin. "Then the motion will carry. We shall begin with the selection processes tomorrow."

Wonder Woman approached Batman as he made his way to the teleporter pads. At first, he didn't seem to notice, but as soon as she started to speak, he interrupted by saying "Make it fast. I have work in Gotham tonight, and I have important business tomorrow."

Wonder Woman ignored his course attitude, and proceeded with her question. "You are sure about this, right Bruce? It seems like a bit of a step backwards if you ask me."

"Don't call me that. And it's a calculated risk. We'll be sacrificing some brute force, but we can pick up the slack and it might get the government opposers off our backs. Not to mention that John is right. The league's needed to downsize for a long time. We have no use for all the people we have here. For every Superman, we have three Booster Golds and an Elastic Man."

"Wonder Woman laughed. "I should have expected as much from you, Bruce," she said, earning herself a glare. " You truly are the most antisocial creature on the planet. Why don't you try making a few friends. Maybe hit the town every now and then?" She shot him a very mildly hopeful look. "You might enjoy yourself."

"I doubt it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to. J'onn, send me home." With a flash of blue light, he was gone.

"Don't mind him, Diana." Said Superman, appearing behind him from out of nowhere. "He's just got a lot on his plate. The word on the street is that there's been a mass break from Arkham. The Joker was one of the escapees."

"Then why hasn't he asked for the League's help in recapturing them? We could have them off the streets again in a matter of hours!"

Superman laughed heartily. "You know Bruce. He'd much rather do it on his own. But I'm sure that he'll be able to handle it. He always does, after all."

Wonder Woman sighed to herself. "I certainly hope you're right."


	3. Interrogation, Joker Returns

Batman crouched on top of a rooftop near the docks in Gotham City, watching the streets carefully. Very little registered with him; he would wait for the right moment and then make his move. He knew that his target would be here soon. Sure enough he saw a man with dark red hair, shuffling down the streets, with both hands in his pockets. Batman's mind snapped into action; he readied himself briefly, and leapt down to the streets, not making a sound. He approached the suspicious character, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hello, Garfield."

Garfield Lynns broke into a sweat- if he could just make it to the warehouse where he'd stashed his Firefly gear, then he would would have a chance to escape. He started to run, and was relieved not to hear footsteps behind him. He didn't look back until he'd reached his warehouse. He looked around, and was pleased not to see any sign of the Batman. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, looked at it quickly, and then turned to input his combination into the security panel. As he turned to face the door, the last thing he saw was a black gloved hand and a muscular arm speeding toward his face.

We he awoke, Garfield was hanging upside down, suspended only by a thin black cord wrapped around his ankles. He hadn't the faintest idea where he was. He tried to look around, but his vision was blocked by a shadowed figure. He tried to swing himself free, but the cords were too strong. The shadowed figure bent down to look him in the eyes. Garfield couldn't look away; he couldn't help but stare into those haunting white eyes.

"W-w-what d-d-do you w-want?" He stammerd. The fear penetrated every corner of his system paralyzing him completely.

"I want the the Joker..." The figure whispered, coming closer to his ear.

"W-what?"

"THE JOKER!" Batman shouted, suddenly displaying his anger. "WHERE IS HE?"

"I-I-I S-SWEAR I DON'T KNOW!"

"TELL ME NOW. I KNOW HE'S UP TO SOMETHING, AND I **WILL** FIND OUT WHAT."

"I d-d-don't know where he is... Please don't kill me..." Garfield whimpered.

The Batman chuckled to himself quietly. "I have no intentions of killing you myself... But that doesn't mean that you're going to live. I'm more than a little bit curious to see how long it'll take for all the blood in your body to flow to your head and kill you."

Garfield's eyes widened even further. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

Batman raised his eyebrows expectantly. Garfield realized that he would have no choice but to reveal the little information that he had, and risk the Joker's wrath later.

"I don't know what he's planning, I just know that he planned a breakout with a bunch of the other inmates. I wasn't involved, I just snuck out while the guards were busy."

Batman grunted in satisfaction. "The police will be here for you in half an hour. With a swoosh of his cape, he vanished into the shadows. Garfield begged not to be left like this, but his cries went unheard. He fell silent after about ten minutes. Just then, he saw two rows of yellowed teeth standing out from the darkness. He felt his blood run cold as he heard a terrible and familiar laugh.

"Oh, Garfield, Garfield, Garfield. Your betrayal stings me oh so deeply."

"I-I-I'm sorry sir... I had no choice! I didn't want to tell him anything, but he made me!"

"Nonsense, my boy! You were _supposed_ to tell him! The game is no fun if only one person knows about it! I wouldn't want old Batsy claiming that I was cheating... Even if I am..." The Joker cackled menacingly. "But make no mistake, I am still most upset that you would try to sell me out like that." His smile suddenly turned to a sharp frown. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to punish you for that. Can't have traitors running around, messing up my fun, you know. Now why don't we share a laugh? Laughter is the best medicine, you know. I'm sure you'll be feeling great in no time!" He squeezed the flower on his lapel, spraying a noxious gas directly into Garfield's face.

Garfield felt the muscles in his face begin to work against him; as he began to black out, he heard the Joker begin to laugh manically. To his horror, he heard his own voice laughing too, resonating with the Joker's cackle.

The police arrived on the scene soon. Upon looking at Garfield, one of the officers pulled out a radio. "Commissioner, you're going to want to get down here. Fast. It looks like we have a problem here..."


	4. Bedrest, Diana's Discovery

Author's note: Alfred rules. I was picturing Michael Caine's portrayal when I wrote this, but I guess the cartoon one works too. I still don't quite have his sense of humor down, so I;ll put that on hold for a bit. Once again, any constructive criticism is welcome.

Batman returned to his cave, exhausted and eager to sleep. He checked the Batmobile's clock, and sighed realizing that he would have only two hours to rest before his meeting at Wayne Towers. He was met at the gates to his mansion by his faithful butler, Alfred. Bruce Wayne pulled of his mask, and lowered the roof of the Batmobile.

"Yes, Alfred."

"I'm terribly sorry, Master Bruce," the butler began, looking at the sky. "But duty calls..."

Bruce followed his gaze, and to his dismay saw a circle of light, surrounding an image of a bat- the bat signal. He signed and pulled his mask back on. "Have my suit ready. And Coffee. Lots of coffee."

"Yes, Master Bruce."

Commissioner Gordon waited on the roof of police headquarters. He wasn't terribly excited for this meeting. The Commissioner knew that Batman was a force for good, but he was still scary as all hell, and hated to be the one to tell him that the Joker was back in action. His musings were interrupted by an eerie presence. He jumped when he saw the Batman himself directly behind him. He stumbled for a minute before regaining his posture. Batman patiently waited for him to regain his posture.

"You know how much I hate it when you do that."

Batman continued to stare at him, waiting for the reason that he'd been summoned.

"Right... Anyway, my men found your little present. He's in the hospital now. It looks like between the time that you left him, and the time we picked him up, somebody else got to him." Gordon reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a photograph. He handed the picture to the Caped Crusader. Batman took the picture and examined it. It depicted the same man that he had apprehended only an hour earlier. His face was contorted into a twisted frown.

Gordon continued to speak: "He was still giggling when we found him. It has all the marking of the Joker's work, except for the frown. Maybe it's a copycat?" he finished hopefully.

Batman shook his head. "No. I left him upside down. The Joker must have thought it would be funny to leave him with an upside-down smile."

"So he is back... I guess we all knew it would only be a matter of time..." Gordon said, looking over the rooftop. "I'll put all my men on alert, this-" Gordon turned around to face the Batman, only to see that he was no longer there. "You know, he may be a superhero, but he sure can be a real dick sometimes..."

Bruce Wayne staggered into Wayne Manor and collapsed on his couch. He was beyond exhaustion, but he couldn't afford to sleep now. Not while the Joker was on the loose and the Justice League needed him. He sighed to himself as he reluctantly pulled himself up and made his way to the Batcave. Alfred gave him a concerned look. "Are you sure you're alright Master Bruce? I'm sure that the league would understand if I sent a message requesting that they reschedule your duty..."

"Thank you Alfred, but I can't do that. I have a duty to the League. We've decommissioned to many members recently for me to back down now. I can handle myself fine."

"I'm not doubting your competence Sir... But you haven't slept in over sixty hours. Even you have your limits, and you would be wise to respect them."

"I'll accept my limitations when I meet them. Until then, I don't have any choice but to push forward." With that, he pulled on his cowl, and stepped on a blue teleporter panel on the floor of the cave.

"J'onn, I'm ready."

Bruce vanished in a Flash. Alfred sighed and went about his business.

Batman appeared on the teleporter pad, and slowly stepped out into the light. The rest of the original Justice League members stared at him as he stumbled onto the floor. Wonder Woman stepped towards him in concern. "Are you all you alright, Bruce?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look it. You can't even walk straight."

"I'm fine."

"You can't go out there in your condition. It's insanity!"

...

"I'm fine."

J'onn interjected: "It would be irresponsible for you to go on patrol in you condition. I hate to do this to you Bruce, but you must rest." He reached out and placed his hand on Batman's forehead.

"I'm fi..." Batman's sentence was lost in a yawn, and he fell to the floor sleeping.

"Diana, you should take him home. I am sure that Superman will gladly cover his shift tonight."

Wonder Woman and Superman both nodded. Wonder Woman reached down to grab the sleeping hero, and stepped onto the teleporter. J'onn flipped a switch, and they vanished in a flash.

Alfred was slightly surprised to see his master home so soon, and even more surprised to see him in the arms of Wonder Woman. "My heavens, is he alright?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"He's fine... Just asleep. He might be out for a while though. How long has he been awake?"

"Several days, I'm afraid. He's been under a terrible amount of stress lately."

"So I've heard..."

"Well, would you if I escorted you to the master bedroom? I'm afraid that in my old age I wouldn't be able to get him there on my own..."

"Of course, Alfred."

"Right this way, then." Alfred began to make his way up the stairs, and through the clock that concealed the entrance to the Batcave. As they passed through the mansion, Wonder Woman examined her extravagant surroundings. "Alfred... Why would somebody who has all this want to do what he does?

"An excellent question, and one I've heard many a time. Over the years, I've come to suspect that Master Bruce dons the Batman identity to compensate for what he does _not _have." Alfred paused, looking solemnly at a portrait of a tall handsome man with a mustache, a beautiful woman with dark hair, and a young boy of about six or seven. Wonder Woman noted that they all looked very happy; they were all smiling and hugging each other. She couldn't believe that this happy young child would grow into the brooding hero that she held in her arms. "Alfred... How could that happen to him?"

"Of course Master Bruce would choose not to tell you of it... He never was good about letting his friends get very close. Very well; I shall enlighten you. Master was once a relatively normal eight year old child. Master Thomas was very respected in the local community; despite being among the wealthiest citizens in the world, he spent his time working as a doctor. He put the future of his company into the hands of others so that he would always have time for his family. He was a decent man in an indecent time... And he paid dearly for it. Late one night, he took his family to see a movie... On the way home, they were assaulted by a two-bit crook with a gun. Master Thomas tried to comply with his wishes, but... He handed over his watch and wallet, but the thief wanted to ensure that he wouldn't be apprehended. Once he had what he wanted, he shot them both in cold. Master Bruce saw the whole thing... As one would expect from an eight year old boy, he didn't take it very well. I've scarcely seen him smile since then."

Wonder Woman looked down at Batman, and tried to envision the horrors that he had seen. She tried to imagine watching her own mother die, but couldn't bear to put herself through such torture.

Alfred coughed gently. "We'd best be moving on. It's getting awfully late." He proceeded towards another flight of stairs, and Wonder Woman followed him, still reeling from his revelation. As she looked at Bruce, she felt waves of pity rolling over her. How could he have held this kind of information back from her and the rest of the league? She had always guessed that he had encountered some kind of tragedy, but something of this scale hadn't even crossed her mind.

Alfred opened a door on the right side of the corridor, and ushered her in, bowing slightly. She entered the room, and placed Bruce gently on the bed. She then pulled one the room's winged armchairs next to the bed, and sat down. Alfred watched them for a moment, then closed the door smiling to himself.

Wonder Woman couldn't help but stare at him. She had no idea of the horrors that his childhood had contained. Could such a thing even have been considered a childhood? To lose one's family, and at such a young age too. The thought of it was unbearable for Wonder Woman. Now she fully understood why he was what he was. She reached down to remove his mask. Until she had seen his face for the first time, she had assumed that his mask had been a cover for some sort of hideous disfigurement, as she couldn't think of any reason why one would wear such a hideous mask but had discovered that this couldn't have been further from the truth. As she slowly pulled off his cowl, she admired his features for the first time in a long time. His facial features were all very clearly defined, from his jaw to his cheekbones. She couldn't find a simple imperfection. Now she knew why he wore his grotesque disguise; it was simply a tool to reflect the fear that had ripped him from his childhood.

As she observed his features, it occurred to her that this was the first time that she had actually seen him at peace. Just for a moment, she imagined that he was the carefree eight year old boy that he had been so long ago. She sighed quietly, and then pulled the covers over him. She whispered "Goodnight, Bruce." She gently kissed him on the forehead, and left the room as quietly as possible.

Once she reached the main floor, Wonder Woman found Alfred waiting for her by the door. "Will that be all, Ms. Diana?"

"Yes Alfred."

"Very well." He opened the door for her.

"One thing Alfred... Would you tell him to contact me when he wakes up?"

"I'll be certain that I do that. By the way, I must thank you for returning him safely. I swear, Master Bruce can be so reckless sometimes."

"He certainly can. Goodnight Alfred."

"Goodnight, Princess." Alfred sighed to himself as he the sound of the door closing echoed through the halls of the mansion. "Ah, what I would do to be too be young again..."


	5. Before the Lobotomy, Ghosts and Ghouls

_Bruce skipped down the street, happily swinging his toy sword. "HA! EN GUARD! Criminals fear my sword!" He shouted, imitating the hero from the movie he'd just seen. He was as happy as he'd ever been, and he felt as if nothing could put a damper on his mood._

_ "Slow down, Bruce!" Thomas Wayne shouted, at his son. "You're going to leave us behind!" Bruce laughed and complied. "That movie was awesome!" he babbled. "When I grow up, I want to be just like Zorro!"_

_ Thomas laughed at his son. "You're well on your way, Bruce!" Bruce swelled with pride. "Yeah!" He playfully ran ahead again. Bruce's mother looked worriedly at the ally ahead. "Thomas... Are sure we should go this way That's Crime Alley..."_

_ "You have to have faith in people, Martha... If you trust them, they'll prove their worth." Comforted by her husband's words, she smiled. "You're right dear... Let's go. It's already past Bruce's bedtime."_

_ No sooner had they entered the alley, then a man with a gun stepped out of the shadows. "Come here... All of you. You'd be best off not ta scream... Or else." The man menacingly gestured at Bruce with his gun. Bruce, having no idea of what was going on, began to cry._

_ "Now... Let's start with the lady's pearls. Hand 'em over. And don't even think about trying anything... OR ELSE!" The man pointed his gun at Bruce again, causing him to whimper in fear._

_ "Do as he says, Martha. We don't want trouble, and we can replace the necklace." Matha handed over her necklace. "Smart lady... Now the wallet. And the watch..." Thomas nodded and handed over his belongings._

_ "Now... This has been fun, and I must that you for your kind compliances... But I can't have you squealing on me, now can I?" The thief aimed his gun at Thomas, and fired without a second thought. He then turned the gun on Martha, and fired again. The last thing that Bruce remembered seeing was the shocked look of betrayal on his father's face, and the gleeful expression of the man who knew that he could kill without punishment._

Bruce's eyes snapped open. He didn't remember falling asleep, and had no idea where he was. Panic flowed through his system, although he had it under control before any physical sign of it showed. As he sat up, he realized that he was in his own bedroom; he hardly recognized it, as it seemed like it had been ages. As he observed his surroundings, he couldn't help but notice that one of his chairs had been moved. Carefully, he stood up to take a few steps. As he noticed that he was still in his Batman suit, memories returned to him. He remembered J'onn putting him to sleep, but nothing after.

"Master Bruce! I'm glad to see that you're finally awake!" Bruce turned to see Alfred standing by the door. "Finally? How long was I out for?" "About two days, sir." "Did anyone call for me?" "Just Wonder Woman, sir. I would suggest that you contact her immediately, seeing how she was kind enough to bring you back here." "Thank you, Alfred. I'll do that." Alfred sighed to himself, knowing that Bruce had no intention of doing so.

The six remaining Justice League originals stood scattered around the main room of the watchtower. J'onn, who had been deeply engrossed in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes. "He is awake." "Good to hear." Said Superman. "How's he doing?" "He'll live. But we need not worry about him. We have duties to attend to." "Pretty much the entire S.S.O.S.V. is behind bars, and without them, the world's crime rates are the lowest that they've been in decades. Why do we still have to patrol?" Moaned The Flash.

"Because it's our job. You should know by now that as long as the League exists, we WILL be patrolling," Shayera Hol said angrily. "Not to mention that Lex Luthor and the Joker are both on the loose."

"Okay, okay, geez... Just pull the stick out of..." The Flash stopped himself short when he noticed Shayera roughly gesturing at him with his mace.

The Green Lantern chuckled to himself as he watched. "Just like old times, he muttered under his breath.

J'onn immediately began to brief the others on his plan; "We will have patrols in major crime cities, changing from night to night. Superman, you can cover Metropolis. I'll stay here and watch the monitors. Lantern, you stay up here with me in case I need to send backup. I have already assigned and dispatched Black Canary, Green Arrow, Wild Cat, and Vigilante. I shall contact Batman, and tell him to keep an eye out in Gotham tonight. That will be all. Flash, Shayera, Diana; you are free to do as you please."

"AWRIGHT! I'm outta here!" With that, The Flash dashed out of the room without looking back. The rest of the team began to follow suit, except for Wonder Woman. She slowly approached J'onn, waiting for him to face her.

"J'onn?" The martian turned to look at her. "Would you mind sending me down with Bruce? I think he might be able to use some assistance." She instantly felt J'onn reaching into her mind, probing her thoughts. She stared into his his orange eyes, and knew that he was determining her true intentions. The glow in his eyes soon faded, and he took a step toward her.

"I see that you have formed something of a connection with him." "You could almost call it that... But you know him. He would never let anybody truly connect with him."

"Indeed. And I assume that you now know the reason why?" "I think so. She remembered the gruesome tale that Alfred had told her. "He no longer trusts people. He fears that forming bonds with others will only lead to someone being hurt."

The Martian smiled in approval. "Yes. Although I cannot stop you, I must advice you to proceed with caution. Bruce has built himself a tough exterior, but the years of pushing others away have softened his inner soul, leaving it fragile as glass. You must be aware of this if you intend to get close to him. As the people of Earth say _'Don't be startin' what you can't be finishin'._" Wonder Woman giggled a little bit upon hearing him try to mimic the Earthling's language.

"Diana... Are you sure that you're ready to commit to this? I warn you once again: this will not be easy for either of you. I have seen Batman's mind..." He paused briefly and gave a small shudder. "It is not at all a pleasant place to be." "I'm sure, J'onn. I can handle it." "As you wish." The alien closed his eyes momentarily to establish a telepathic link with Batman. "I have informed him of your proposal to help him." And?" "He says 'Whatever.'


	6. Recon

Lex Luthor took a moment to absorb his surroundings' he wasn;t sure where he was, but judging from the lack, of light, he would guess somewhere underground. He observed the rooms decor with disgust; it was, like all of the other rooms in the hideout, decked in purple and black, and covered in nauseating clown faces. Lex grimaced; that damn clown just couldn't let him forget who was in charge.

"Watcha thinkin' about Lex?" Luthor spun around on shock; behind him stood the very last person that he wanted to see. "What do you want, Joker?" He asked, making sure to fill every syllable with contempt. "Oh, nothing really..." The Joker said, ignoring Luthor's obvious disgust. "Just checking to see how your settling in. After all, we're on the same team now, you and me!" The Joker cackled menacingly.

"Why am I here? I think that I have a right to know what you're planning, and why you need me!" Luthor shouted, his contempt turning to anger. "Actually Lex... The thing is you don't. I'm afraid that I can't tell you my plan just yet..." "And why not?" "Because I'm not quite sure what it is yet, of course!"

This pushed Lex over the edge; "Let me get this straight... You went through all the trouble to gather experienced criminals, and to bring me here against my will... AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE TINIEST SCRAP OF A PLAN?"

"Right-o, Lexy! We have the joke set up, now all we need is the punch line!" "That's enough. I refuse to play your games any longer." "But Lex... Can't you see that this is going to be the greatest game in history? And the plans are in motion..." "I thought you didn't have a plan yet?" "I suppose not, but I know how to make one... We start by watching the Batman."

"Why him? Superman is clearly the strongest."

The Joker sighed in disappointment. "You see, this is why I'm in charge. You see, we're simply scouting for weaknesses here. The only one on that team who's never shown any weakness is old batsy. Now... Some of us think that it's a good idea to do a bit of research before rushing headlong into our plans." He shot Luthor a scornful look. "That way our plans won't fail, leaving us to crawl to our enemies for help." He laughed at the look of rage on Luthor's face.

"I won't be made to play your games any longer Joker. I want no part of your sick jokes." "Oh, Lex... Why can't you wrap your thick, bald skull around it? _I'm_ in charge now, and you don't have much of a choice. I mean, I suppose I could just kill you now...But I don't think that I would enjoy that very much... And I can make sure that _you _won't enjoy it at all. He snapped his fingers, and two large hyenas bolted through the door, growling menacingly. The Joker burst out laughing as Luthor's angry look became one of fear, and then resignation. "Fine..." Luthor said, realizing that it would be pointless to resist.

That's a good boy, Lexy. Now why don't you come see what good ol' Uncle J's been cooking up?" He threw and arm around Luthor's shoulders, and began to pull him out of the room. Eventually, they both of them ended up in a room with walls that were entirely lined with monitors, including the ceiling and floor. At the moment, each screen showed different clips; all of them featured Batman, swooping over rooftops or locked in melee combat with his enemies.

Luthor took a moment to observe each of the monitors; with each showing a different clip, and with no signs of looping, he figured that there must be several days of video here. "Where are you getting all of this footage? There's no way the Bat would allow you capture all of this... Unless he didn't... But that's impossible! How could _you _have gathered all of this footage without him catching on to you?

"Well, Lexy, I'm flattered that you would think this was all my handywork, but I'm afraid that I can't take all of the credit here. You see, I've had my eye on the Bat for several weeks now... He's not the easiest person to track down, but thankfully he's out on the job almost every night. You see, over the years, I've found that the trick to outwitting the Bat is to think like him. Now, I pride myself on my ability to think like a bat, but unfortunately, I lack the... Erm... Physical ability, shall we say, that is required for Bat-stalking. Fortunately, using the near unlimited funding provided by our good pal the penguin, I've been able to hire one of the few men on this Earth who's every bit as sneaky as the masked pest. DEADSHOT! Are you there?"

The videos on the monitors all stopped at once. Lex stumbled for a minute, caught off guard by the sudden darkness. Suddenly, the screens came back to life all at once. Lex looked around to see a 360° view of a cityscape, viewed from a rooftop.

"I'm here clown," a voice drawled from an intercom. "Good, good. You see Lex, Deadshot here's been my eye in the sky for a few weeks now. He's here to help us dig up some dirt on ol' Batsy. I've equipped with a cutting edge, not to mention _very slimming_ video suit that will allow us to see everything within range of him. Unfortunately, the audio equipment is to bulky for him to carry around... But then again Batsy's never been the chattiest fellow, so we won't be missing much."

"I see now... you plan to follow the Batman back to his hideout and discovery his true identity?" The Joker turned to Lex with a shocked look on his face. "Lexy, I'm surprised that you would even say such a thing. That would be cheating, and cheating always ruins the game you know! Besides, I want to take out _the Batman_, not whatever pasty-faced-nitwit that he hides behind. Any sign of him yet Deadshot?" "No. I don't see any trace of him. Should I go?" "NO. YOU'LL STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, DAMMIT. We haven't seen a trace of him in two nights, so he'll _have_ to be out tonight. Deadshot sighed. "Fine..."


	7. Only Women Bleed, Hard Choices

"It's happening again, alfred." Bruce was in the Batcave, preparing for another night as the Batman. "I can feel her trying to get under my skin." "With all due respect, Master Bruce, it wouldn't take a detective of your caliber to realize that. She seems to be fairly direct. I personally find it most admirable."

Bruce sighed to himself. "Me too, Alfred, me too... But I can't let her in. That would be foolish and irresponsible." "I can't say that I agree with you, sir." "Batman can't show emotion. His emotions are a weakness that could be used against him... And his allies." "Are you saying that you fear for Diana's sake?" "Yes." "Master Bruce, do you truly believe that Wonder Woman is incapable of defending herself? If she isn't, then no one is... And you are truly doomed to be alone forever..." Alfred looked at Bruce with sadness in his eyes. "You must have somebody to trust in, after all..."

"I trust _you_, Alfred..." Bruce said, softening his expression.

"Ah, but Master Bruce, I regret to say that I shan't be here forever. I can feel myself growing older every day, and I would hate to leave you alone here... Especially with Master Jason gone..." Bruce looked back at Alfred stiffening his resolve. "That's exactly my point. Jason was a competent fighter, and a good man. But that couldn't protect him." He gave a sad look to a glass case nearby, containing a shredded Robin Suit. "My decision is final, and no one can change it. I won't let anybody else come to harm because of me." "Do as you you see fit sir."

Bruce solemnly pulled on his cowl, and jumped into the batmobile. "Master Bruce..." Aflred said slowly. "I have raised you since you were eight years old. I certainly hope that I have taught you how to properly treat a lady. Batman pulled down the roof of the Batmobile and sat deadly still for a moment, readying himself for yet another night of physical and mental torment.

Batman had been sitting on one of the city's higher rooftops for no more than half an hour when he heard a gentle click behind him. He didn't turn around. "Hello, Batman," Wonder Woman said stepping out of the shadows. Batman grunted in reply.

Wonder Woman paused for a moment waiting for a more appropriate response. When she didn't receive one, she decided to cut to the chase. " I talked to Alfred the other night. It was lovely to see him again. I asked him to have you call me... I assume he must have forgotten while you were asleep?" "No... He told me." "Then why didn't you call?" "I didn't see any reason too."

Wonder Woman scowled momentarily, before remembering the reason that she wanted to talk to him. "Alfred told me why you're... The way you are."

This clearly surprised Bruce; Diana saw a ripple of surprise come over his face before he masked it with his usual stone-cold glare.

"How could you not have mentioned it before? We're your friends, Bruce... Why would you hide something this important from us? We just want to help you!"

"It's personal, and I'm dealing with it. I can manage my personal life without distracting the team."

"Bruce, you deal with your problems by wearing a bat mask and violently challenging armed and dangerous criminals. That's clearly not a healthy way to deal with your problems. And if you're so sure that you can manage your personal life, then why won't you let me close to you? I just want to help you." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Bruce?"

"I can't. I have enemies. Ruthless enemies. These aren't just power-mad dictators who will do anything to get what they want... They're sick people who kill, just for the fun of it. And they all want nothing more than to see me suffer. I can't let anybody else suffer because I feel a bit lonely."

"Bruce... I fight crime just about every day, just like you... In high heels. I think I can handle a deranged clown and a man who thinks he's a scarecrow."

Bruce shook his head. "You don't understand... You've never been face to face with the joker. He may be deranged, but he's cunning. He can manipulate just about anybody, and bend them to his will. You have no idea what he's capable of; many times, he's brought all of Gotham to it's knees before him. I can't let you, or anybody else distract me from my mission."

Diana stared at him dejectedly. "Bruce... I know you need this. You can't do everything alone. I want to help you. Not just Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy, but Bruce Wayne, the eight year old boy who lost his parents and his childhood in one night. She crouched next to him, and hugged him gently, resting her head on his shoulder.

At that moment, Bruce wanted nothing more than to throw off the mask that had been his curse for many years, throw it to the pavement, and return her embrace. He desperately wanted to break down and cry into her shoulder, and let the hurt go away, even if it was just for a little while. However, he soon remember his duty, and the pledge that he had made to his parents. He closed his eyes, and forced his emotions back as he prepared himself for the latest in the long series of impossible decisions that his life had become.

"I can't. The Batman is more important than just me. It's a legacy, a symbol that pushes fear back on those who use it for evil. I can't corrupt that. For any reason."

"Fine... I guess I could settle for Bruce Wayne, if the Batman's too busy, she smiled gently at him.

"Nice try. But it's still too risky. Bruce Wayne gets just as much press as Batman, if not more. He can't be seen with Wonder Woman; it would draw to much attention, and my secret identity would be uncovered. That's the end of this discussion. I don't want to hear another word out of you tonight, unless you see something important that I don't. Which you won't."

"But Bru-"

"Enough."

Meanwhile, the Joker and Lex Luthor watched the scene unfold from the Joker's monitor room. Upon seeing Wonder Woman reach down to touch Batman's shoulder he gasped, and when she hugged him, he let out a squeal of delight and dropped the bucket of popcorn that he'd been holding.

"Well I say... Batsy's got a _girlfriend!_ I never would have seen that coming! This is just too wonderful..." He began to pace the room, dozens of schemes running through his warped mind. There were so many possibilities- so many things that he'd never even dreamed that he would get the chance to do. "HARLEY! PAPER! NOW!" He shouted. Harley Quinn scooted into the room, handing the Joker a large roll of paper. The Joker pulled a large, feathered pen out of his jacket pocket, and began to scribble away. Once he had finished he examined his work, his tongue poking out from between his teeth. "Voila!" He exclaimed, handing the paper to Luthor.

"This is where you come in, my bald friend. I need you to provide the materials to bring this plan to life! The Penguin can get anything you need, but the construction is all up to you."

Luthor skeptically took the paper and examined it; as he looked it over, his eyes widened. "Well, Joker... It looks as if I underestimated you. This is quite the plan... But what do I get out of it?" The Joker laughed his horrible laugh. "Besides living you mean?" Lex nodded casually.

"Well, you drive a hard bargain, Lexy... But I can give you one thing that I _know_ you really want..." He leaned in to whisper directly in Lex's ear. "I can give you Superman's head on a platter."

"Lex grinned. "_Now _we're talking." The two evil masterminds shook hands, sealing their pact.

Author's Note- _Still _no action? I know, I know... Sorry I'll get things going. But hey- Seven chapters in one day! I'm pretty sure that I have more chapters than readers. Speaking of readers, I'd really appreciate some reviews- not even just for support, but to point out my mistakes. Although, it would be nice if people could review to let me know that they're enjoying the story, and if not what I could do to make things better. Thanks!


	8. Surrender, but don't give yourself away

Author's note: It's 1:30 in the morning, and I'm running almost purely on Sunkist, so please don't expect perfection here. Although it would be nice if somebody could help keep an eye out for typos.

When Bruce returned home he was in a state of shock. He couldn't believe what had just happened- he had come too close to giving in. He knew that he had to resist Diana, for his sake as well as hers. But it was so hard... He wondered if his Iron will would be enough. Finally, he gathered the courage to open the roof of the Batmobile. Alfred looked at him, and immediately rushed over upon seeing Bruce's chalk-white face. "Master Bruce, are you injured?" "No... I'm okay. I'm just a bit rattled." "Please tell me what happened sir. You don't look at all well," Alfred said, with concern still apparent in his voice.

"... It's Diana. I can't fight it, Alfred. I need it... But I know I can't have it... Please help me Alfred... I need you tell me that I can do it. I need you to help me do what needs to be done to keep Batman's legacy alive."

Alfred took a deep breath, not liking the position that he was in at all. "Mater Bruce... Several years before your parents passed, your father asked me to take care of you as best I could if he were to meet an untimely end. To this day, I have lived out my promise, and done my very best to do what was right for you. And I have no intention of stopping now. I promised to do what was right for you, and I shall continue to do so, regardless of the effect that it has on Batman. No you'd best be getting to bed now; I know that you have the day off tomorrow, but it's late already and you need every bit of sleep that you can get. Now up you go." He finished, pointing at the stairs.

Wonder Woman returned to the Watchtower, feeling slightly defeated. Not that she had expected much more. She sincerely wished that she could just use her magic lasso to force him to reveal his feelings; but that would only foster resentment. But she wouldn't lose hope; she knew that a true warrior would never surrender. She would simply have to devise a new tactic. That's when it hit her; if Batman's defenses were too strong, then she would have to try attacking his other half. She smiled to herself, and began to head towards The Flash's resting quarters.

Once she reached her destination, she softly knocked on the door. "Wally, are you in there?"

"Yeah, be right-" the door opened "-there. Whaddaya need, Diana?" "I'd like some help making... a secret identity." Flash looked at her suspiciously. "Why would you need a secret identity?" "I have my reasons." "Whatever you say, princess..." "Well... are you going to help me?"

The Flash's face snapped into an excited grin. "Of course! So... The first thing you need is a kickass name... I'm thinking something like Diana Thunder, or Megan Booster! I guess you can't just use Princess Diana... That would be too obvious, and besides people would keep confusing you with that other chick..." Diana gave him an odd look. "Right... Maybe I should go talk to Clark about this..." "No, I'm sorry, I'm just a bit excited because people don't ask me for help on stuff like this all that often..." "It's fine, Wally. But I can work out a name later. What else do I need?" "Well... J'onn could probably whip up some papers for you if you ask him real nice... And I guess you'd need some sort of disguise... That part could be tough, since the whole world knows your face pretty well... Hmm... But I may have some ideas..." He dashed up to her, and stood behind her. Before she knew what was going on, he had her hair tied in a tight bun. "Hold on a sec..." He disappeared for all of thirty seconds, and returned holding a pair of glasses. "Try these on!" She did so, and then looked in the mirror. "Perfect." She muttered to herself. "Thanks, Wally." "Anytime, toots." Diana headed back to her room to rest. She would have a busy day tomorrow.

Bruce awakened from a sound sleep around midday, feeling truly well-rested for what felt like the first time in years. He looked forward to the the next twenty-four hours- he had no meetings, and no Justice League duty. He decided that he would take the night off too- it seemed from his run-ins with Garfield Lynns and Wonder Woman that Batman was causing more problems than he was solving lately.

He got up and got dressed. He decided that he would spent part of the day reading until he found something better to do. However, he barely read through a quarter of _The Great Gatsby_ before he was interrupted by a call from Alfred.

"Master, Bruce, I would seem that you have a visitor... A Ms. Diane Prince, I believe?" Bruce furrowed his brow before going to greet his guest. "She wouldn't..."

He got up to greet his guest; she was a pretty young woman, with thick black hair tied in a loose ponytail. He greeted her cordially; "Hello, I'm Bruce Wayne. Is there something I can do for you?" He asked, looking at her expectantly?"

She began to reply; "Well, as a matter of fact-" Bruce cut her off. "Why don't we discuss this inside?" He said politely, gesturing towards the inside of his home. He allowed her to enter first, and then followed her, closing the door lightly behind him.

The moment the door closed, Bruce lowered his voice to an angry hiss. "What the HELL do you think you're doing? You're going to blow my cover!" "Relax, Bruce. I've got it all worked out. I told J'onn I was taking up a secret identity, and he built up a backstory for me. Diane Prince is an artist who struck gold and retired early; after she retired, she invested her money well, and now she's living the easy life. She leaned in, close to Bruce's ear; "She's a real party girl."

"Fine... but don't you think that people will be suspicious when people realize that none of your art exists and nobody's heard of you?"

Diana laughed. "J'onn thought of that. He planted a story and some artwork throughout the community, and no self-respecting art enthusiast will ever admit to not having heard of a famous artist, even if they haven't."

"Well congratulations... What do want with me?" "I heard you had the day off... I thought we could hit the town, and maybe have a bit of fun, for once. J'onn told me that you weren't on League duty tonight, and I know you're a night-owl any, so I figured that maybe we could meet up some time tonight?" "It's a nice thought, but the Batman doesn't take breaks."

"Funny, that's not what I heard." Diana laughed and pointed at the sky. _'Damn telepath'_ Bruce thought to himself. _'You're welcome.' _Replied, J'onn through his mind.

Bruce knew when he was backed into a corner. "Fine... Be here at ten. _Sharp._"

"You know it!" With a wink, Diana opened the door and passed through leaving Bruce alone in the room. Having heard the conversation from the next room over, Alfred entered and Gave Bruce a proud look.

"Well, Master Bruce... It would seem that you have an opportunity to, *ahem,* as they say, _'tap that.'_

Author's note: I'd like to stop and take a minute to stop and thank all of you who are bothering to read this, you have no idea how much it means to me. It really makes me happy to see that people are enjoying this story. Particularly chapter 4, which somehow has more visitors and hits than chapter 3. Go figure. But anyway, it's only been a couple hours, since I posted the first chapter, and I've already had about ninety visitors to the story. I had no idea that so many people would enjoy reading the story, and I'll continue to do the best I can to keep satisfying. You guys are the best. The new chapter should be up sometime soon, so keep an eye out for it sometime tomorrow. Like I said you guys rule.


	9. Puppets With Strings of Gold

Author's note: Alright! After about six hours of sleep, I'm back in the saddle again, recharged and ready to go. Thanks for the supporting reviews; it really means a lot to me to know that people are enjoying the story. To answer a question that came up in the reviews, I realized that I should clarify my setting. Like I said, the story primarily takes place in the animated universe, several days after the series finale of JLU. However, I decided that I would draw from some of the major events in the Batman comic universe, particularly those that were too dark and gruesome too be featured in Batman the Animated series, such as Jason Todd's death. I'm hoping to use some of these events to flesh out his character a bit more, and really draw the line between Batman and Bruce Wayne. As a matter of fact, I may even throw in a few references to the movies (don't worry, I'll just pretend that Batman&Robin never happened). Thanks for reminding me to set that straight; I hope that I can avoid further confusion. In a completely unrelated note, I apologize for the crappy backstory I gave Wonder Woman; I really couldn't think of anything, so I took inspiration from the story of Nat Tate, an artist who was the subject of a rather hilarious hoax in which a biographer wrote a book about an artist, forged some artwork, and passed them of to a room full of art enthusiasts, even though Nat Tate _never existed. _Needless to say, David Bowie was involved. ... I think we can get this chapter going.

Diana was shocked at Bruce's shocking turnaround; in the hours since she had seen him last, he'd made the transformation from brooding terror of the night to the life of the party; she could never have imagined that she would ever actually see him have _fun_. But there he was, dancing, and with her, no less. She looked up at him and smiled, and was a bit surprised to get a smile in return; not the cocky smirk that Batman sometimes wore, but a true, warm, caring smile. She knew that the Batman would be good at covering his tracks, but she'd never suspected that he would be this apt a master of disguise; she mentally reprimanded herself for not knowing better.

As the night passed, Diana began to wonder how one man could have two personalities that were so radically different; it seemed like it should be impossible for both Bruce Wayne and Batman to coexist in the same body. She quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. She had the Batman on the dance floor, and she was planning on taking advantage of the situation.

They continued to hop from party to party until late that night. At about two in the morning, the pair returned to Wayne Tower, exhausted from a long night on the town. "I never knew that you had such a wild side before, Bruce. Well... I guess I did, but I never knew you could party like that. She sighed in exhaustion.

"I'm glad you had a good time," he said as he pulled off his overcoat and collapsed onto the couch. Diana assumed that now would be as good a time as any to ask the question that had been troubling her all night. "I did... But I've been thinking... Who are you really?" "I'm not sure what you mean, Diana." "Well... I really have no idea who the real Bruce is? Is it the Batman, the creature of the night who protects the innocent? Or Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy with a heart of gold?"

"Diana..."

She looked at him curisouly. "Do you even know, Bruce? There's no way that you could have _two _personalities... But which one is a cover for the other?" "Diana... You know me ..." "Do I?" "Of course... I'm Bruce Wayne..." "Then tell why did you let the Batman run your life?" "You wouldn't understand... No one would. I have to do my duty; no matter the cost. That's the point of the Batman."

"I'm sorry, Bruce I don't mean to pry. You know..." She looked at him with a fresh gleam in her eyes. "We still have the rest of the night..." She said somewhat seductively as she began to lie down on top of him.

"Don't push your luck, princess."

The next night, Bruce returned to the Batcave. Alfred was waiting, with the Batsuit ready to go. "I take it you enjoyed your date the other night, Master Bruce?" "It was nice to get out of the house for once." "I saw." Bruce shot his Butler a questioning look. "I beg your pardon, Master Bruce, but I assumed that you knew by now. I would seem that you've made the tabloids yet again." Alfred reached to a table next to him and picked up a magazine. "I took the liberty of buying this for you earlier today." Bruce looked at the cover and was shocked to see a picture of himself with Diana, and the caption _'Bruce Wayne's new squeeze? Details inside!'_ Bruce took a moment to flip through the article. "Brilliant. This is exactly what I need. Now do you see what I wanted to avoid?" "Not entirely, Master Bruce... It seems as if you make the tabloids quite often anyway, so you might as well be happy while you're doing it."

Bruce pulled on his cape and cowl as he stepped onto his teleporter pad. _'J'onn, I'm ready to go.'_ In a flash of blue, he was gone.

He reappeared in Justice League headquarters in a fraction of a second. The first thing he saw was a red blur at the end of the hallway.

"Oh, shi-" was all he had time to say before he was violently tackled by The Flash. "YOU BASTARD!" Shouted Flash, delivering a swift punch to the Caped Crusader's stomach. "Now talk! Where's the real Batman?" Batman glared at him angrily. The Flash backed up a bit. "You don't scare me!" He lied. "What the hell are you talking about?" "I know you aren't the real Batman! I saw you in _People!_ Magazine!" "You read _People!_" "HEY, SHUT UP. This is about YOUR crazy." "I'm not a fake. Now get off me before I rip your legs off and throw throw them out the airlock."

The Flash jumped up immediately. "That _IS_ you, isn't it?" He grinned apologetically, before his mind made an important connection; "Wait a second... If that really was you... THEN YOU GOT WITH WONDER WOMAN! HIGH FIVE, BRO!" He raised his hand expectantly, but was ignored. "Did you... You know... He made a hand gesture and whistled. Batman's scowl deepened. He growled; "No." And without another word, he began to head towards the conference room, leaving the Flash alone.

The Speedster leaned against the wall for a moment, contemplating the mystery of the Batman. _'Damn. He must be the only man on Earth who could have an amazon princess hitting on him and not care.'_ He shook his head, wondering where anybody could get that kind of steel willpower.

Author's note: I'm sorry that it's a bit short, but I swear I'm getting to the plot. The next chapter is going to be important so hang around for that. I've come to realize that most the the best Batman stories are the really dark ones (for example, The Dark Knight). So accordingly, things are going to get dark really fast, so tick around. I've got some important twists planned out for the next chapter, so it should be longer and more interesting. Unfortunately, I may have to slow down my writing just a bit. The next few chapters are really going to mark the change from buildup to real plot, so they could take a bit longer to write, but I've got these nine chapters up in less than 24 hours, so I think that a little change of pace won't hurt. To wrap up, once again, I'd like to thank you all for reading. I hope to have the next chapter up later today, but I can't promise anything because I have a terrible work ethic.


	10. Seduction of the Innocent, Trap Sprung

Batman arrived at the conference room and took his usual seat. He looked around. He immediately noticed Wonder Woman looking at him from across the table. When she saw him looking back, she winked at him., fortunately, he'd long since managed to control blushing, as well as other signs of emotion. His face remained completely deadpan as he continued to scan the room. His eyes locked on J'onn, who gave him a friendly wave. "Hello, Batman. Did you enjoy yourself?" "Shut it, Cupid," Batman grumbled bitterly, hoping that the Martian was reading his mind so he could give him a few more choice words.

"Alright, as soon as The Flash get here, we can get the meeting underway." Superman stated, taking charge. "Don't wait up, I'm right here." Flash said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Okay then, let's get started. We need to assign duties for tonight." Superman continued. J'onn stood up, holding a chart. Diana, your duty has been rescheduled as per your request. Superman, if you could quickly scan from New York to Trenton tonight, it would be greatly appreciated." Superman nodded in compliance, and the Martian continued; "Batman could you focus on Boston tonight? I sense trouble in the Northeast..."

"I can't make it."

"Why?" asked Superman. The Green Lantern cut in; "You got... 'other plans?'" he asked, shooting a glance at Wonder Woman who looked down at the table. The rest of the team laughed.

"I'm needed in Gotham tonight."

"It's fine J'onn, I'll just put Boston on my route tonight." Superman said. "I can probably skip New York, there's a new guy there that seems to have it covered." "Who is it?" "Some oddball who thinks he's a spider. He's a bit green, but he's a nice enough kid. Er- not there's anything wrong with being green, J'onn."

"Very well. Batman is off the hook. Flash and Shayera, I'll keep you here on call if anything arises in the West coast. Does anybody else have anything else to add?" Flash raised his hand. "Yes, Wally."

The Flash stood up and cleared his throat. "Batman and Wonder Woman, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-" He just barely ducked in time to avoid a Batarang aimed at his head.

"Yes... well... I believe this concludes the meeting. Carry about your business." The Martian said. The team got up to leave. As Batman passed through the door, Wonder Woman brushed past him. As she walked away, he could see her strongly accentuating her movements. "She's got it bad..." a voice behind him said.

Batman turned around to see none other than one of his oldest friends, the young magician Zatanna. "Unfortunately, Bruce, you're just about the worst guy that a girl could fall for. Learned that one the hard way. Although Diana seems to be doing well... Got farther than me, anyway." "I told you, she's just a good friend." "Can it, Bruce. You and I both know that that's a load of crap." She always had been one of the very few people who could put him in his place. "Besides... that's not what the papers say. And it certainly isn't what the Martian says." _'You're welcome again.'_ Batman silently cursed himself for not building a device to shield himself from the Martian's telepathy.

"Get to the point." "I'm not trying to make a point, I just had to see it for myself. The Batman in love... Go figure. I guess I've seen it all, now." Zatanna chuckled softly to herself as she walked away, leaving Batman to wonder if he'd ever hear the end of this.

Wonder Woman headed for her invisible jet in the landing bay. She boarded, did up her seatbelt, and entered coordinates for her destination. Finally, once all of the preparations had been made, she took off. She sat back to contemplate her journey; it seemed as if every time she returned home, she was met with disaster. It felt good to be returning to Themyscira for a positive reason for once. About an hour later, she approached the island. On the shore, she saw a striking woman with long blonde hair; she landed the plane and ran to greet the woman. "Mother!" She exclaimed happily. "Diana... It is good to see you again." Said Hippolyta, embracing her daughter. "But why have you returned to Themyscira?" Diana grinned widely. "Mother... it seems that at long last, I've found a lover."

Hippolyta's joyful expression slowly faded to sadness. "Oh, Diana... I have feared this day since you first left Themyscira. It would seem that the day approaches that you truly leave us for man's world... I always knew that you would leave us some day. You've always had a warrior's spirit, even stronger than that of your sisters." Hippolyta looked into Diana's eyes. "You must keep in mind that by marrying, you will be revoking the ways of the Amazons. As such, you will become mortal..."

Diana looked at her in shock. "Does that mean... My power?" "No, your powers are provided by Athena's Armor, which will continue to protect you, Amazon or not. However, you will lose the privilege of eternal life and youth. But enough on that sad subject. Why don't you tell me about him?" "You've already met him, mother. He was the man in black who helped to save Themyscira from Felix Faust and Hades."

"Ah... The aggressive gloomy one?"

"Yes, mother. The aggressive gloomy one."

"Diana, I can't say that I'm happy about this... But as your mother, I must look out for your happiness. If he will make you happy, then know that you have my blessing."

"Thank you, mother. It means the world to me." After a brief conversation and a bittersweet goodbye, the two women hugged, and Diana departed.

Batman stood on a rooftop, brooding as usual. He was vigilantly watching the streets, feeling disaster as if disaster were about to strike. As he watched the streets, he heard a quiet voice; "Meow."

Without turning around, he replied; "Can I help you Selena?" "Call me 'Catwoman, if you don't mind. I guess everybody knows by now, but there's no need to dilute my image any further... I thought that you of all people would understand."

"Shouldn't you be out robbing a jewelry store?" "Not tonight, Bats. I'm just here to talk." "You've come to the wrong place." "Then I'll try to be brief. You see, I heard through the grapevine that you had a girlfriend!" Batman froze visibly; he knew that he would have to take hits as Bruce Wayne, but now his worst fears had been confirmed. Diana had been romantically connected to Batman. Finally, he composed himself. "Where did you hear that?" "So it is true..." Catwoman replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Where did you here it?" Batman repeated, his anger growing. "I can't tell you about the original source... It's just a rumor that's been floating around the underground." Batman furrowed his brow; he knew what had to be done. He would have to break things off with Diana before somebody was hurt. Little did he know that he was already too late.

About a half an hour into her trip, Diana saw a strange blip on he radar; she looked behind her to see a helicopter closing in fast. She saw the doors of the helicopters to reveal the silhouettes of a very large man, and a petite woman. The woman pointed in the general direction of Wonder Woman's jet. The large man nodded a bit nervously, and then proceeded to jump from the helicopter. Without a second thought, she maneuvered the jet so that he would land on the nose; she completed the maneuver, and he landed with a heavy thud. Slowly, the man looked up; she could now clearly see his face; it had the appearance of being completely covered in scales. He looked at her and grinned, revealing his horribly sharp teeth. He balled one of his hands into a ball, and punched directly through the skin of the jet to hit the engine. He then pulled his fist out of the engine, and punched though the glass of the cockpit, hitting Wonder Woman directly in the face in the process. Her head snapped back, leaving her momentarily stunned. He took advantage of her moment of weakness to throw in a bomb that began to emit a green gas. Wonder Woman began to fade, as her plane nose-dived towards the ocean.

When she woke up, she heard helicopter blades spinning above her, and voices around her. She couldn't help but notice that she was soaking wet. In her semi-concious state, she could only hear snippets of the conversation. "Whatever, Croc. My point is, _you_ almost lost her in the ocean! Think about how much trouble we would have been in if you'd screwed this up!" "Ivy, she's waking up! Hurry up and give her another dose of that stuff, quick!"

Wonder Woman felt a gloved hand cover nose and mouth. She began to notice a sweet smell, and she heard no more.

Author's note: Will Wonder Woman escape from her mysterious captors? Will batman be able to help her? Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

All kidding aside, I really like how this chapter turned out. I'm pretty proud of myself; I've somehow managed to get ten chapters up in less than 24 hours, which is quite an accomplishment, at least by my admittedly low standards. There may or may not be a new chapter up tomorrow; I'll do my best to work on it while I can, but I have to work tomorrow. I promise that I'll be up to speed again later in the week, when I have a bit more time to work on it. Also, I'd like to get a couple reviews for this chapter and chapter 9; I really did _not_ like chapter 9, and would love some suggestions about how I could make it a bit better.


	11. A Crack in the Ice

Author's note: Alright guys... I've got some good stuff in store for you now. I'm thinking about bumping up the rating; Batman's about to completely lose his shit and go into his "WWWWHHHHHEEEEERRRRRREEEE'SSSS RRRRRAAAACCCCHHHHHELLLLLL?" mode. Oh yeah. Well, if you've read this far, You probably just want to know what's going to happen already, so I'll just shut up now.

Batman was about to wrap up his duties for the night and assume that for the first time in a long time, he was wrong. Maybe things would be alright, at least for one day, he hoped that he might have been able to show the slightest sign of weakness and no have to be punished for it. Just for a little while, for the first time in what seemed like forever, he actually felt optimistic.

Just as he was climbing into the Bat-jet to check the city one last time, he heard a voice in his ear. "Bruce." Batman activated his communicator. "What is it J'onn." "We... We've lost communications with Diana. It would appear that her plane went down somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean several hours ago. I'm terribly sorry, Bruce."

"Where. Send me the coordinates." Bruce said with surprising calm."

"I'm sorry, Bruce, but I cannot allow you to act so impulsively. You must come back to the Watchtower so we can discuss. The situation."

"TELL ME NOW." Bruce said, beginning to snap. "I shall not." Bruce was silent for a moment. He reached for the computer in the Bat-plane. He tried to directly access the information he needed directly through the tower's computer, only to find that the Martian had blocked his access. "I'm sorry Bruce. It's for your own good." Bruce shouted in rage as he began to hack the Watchtower's system. "No, Bruce! Please, come up here so we can form a plan!" Bruce killed the link; he had all the information that he needed. He fired up the plane, and got ready for takeoff.

Wonder Woman woke in a daze; she had no idea where she was, and she could barely muster up the brain function to remember her own name. She tried to adjust her position, but found that she couldn't move. She opened her eyes, just a little bit. From what she could see, she was on some sort of metal operating table; leather restraints held down her arms and legs. Immediately, animal instinct kicked in, and she began to struggle with all her might.

"HARLEY. She's waking up! Put her down again before she ruins everything!"

"Yes sir, Docta J!"

Wonder Woman's struggling was cut short by a chloroform rag being shoved roughly in her mouth. Before she she knew it, she was drifting of to sleep again.

Batman reached his the coordinates that he had obtained from the Justice League servers. He opened the floaters on the bottom of the jet, and landed in the water next to the wreckage that had once been Wonder Woman's invisible jet. He stepped onto the end of the floating ship, and began to approach the cockpit. He picked through the metal, and pulled out the hidden camera that he'd had installed as a precaution in every Justice League aircraft. He pulled the camera out of the wreckage, and plugged it into his Bat-plane computer. As he watched the footage; his worst fears were confirmed; he saw a helicopter flying overhead, he saw Killer Croc jump out, and he saw the plane spin out of control. Finally, to his horror, he saw Killer Croc dragging Wonder Woman's unconscious body out of the water, and climb a rope back into the helicopter, where Poison Ivy waited. At that moment something snapped within him; he felt a rage that he hadn't felt in a many years. Batman clenched his teeth and furrowed his brow. He wouldn't lose another loved one to the Joker. He knew that the Joker had to be stopped at any cost.

He jumped back into his jet, and closed the roof. He lifted out of the water, and hovered in the air for a moment. He pushed a button on his control panel, causing the jet to release a cloud of gas that would allow him to see any remaining exhaust particles that had been left behind. He picked up three trails; one was his own, and one appeared to be coming from Themyscira. He chose to follow the third, hoping desperately that he would be able to make it in time. He sped off in the direction that the trail pointed, praying for the first time in many years.

The trail came to an abrupt end above an abandoned carnival. Batman set the autopilot on his jet, and jumped out, using his cape to slow his fall. He landed silently, and immediately looked at his surroundings; the carnival was in an awful stated of disrepair. As a matter of fact, it seemed as if it had been eroded further by unnatural means in order to increase the eerie nature of the setting.

Batman immediately found the largest building, which was located in the very center of the carnival. Using strength that he didn't know he had, he reached back and punched down the door, storming in after it. "QUIT HIDING AND FACE ME!" He shouted into the darkness. Lights flickered on, and a sickening sight met his eyes.

Wonder Woman was strapped to a giant, golden X in the middle of the room, her hands and feet strapped to the contraption. Her nose and mouth were covered by what appeared to be some sort of breathing apparatus, which had two tubes, each leading to a different supply of gas. Her eyes had rolled back into her head, and she was completely motionless except for the occasional feeble twitch or jerk.

"You're late, Batsy... She isn't looking too good, you know." Batman turned to the left to see the Joker and a multitude of his other enemies surrounded by a force field generated by Sinestro.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Batman shouted, his rage reaching a boiling point. "TELL ME NOW!"

"Keep yer tights on, Batsy, I'm getting to that." He pointed to the machines that Wonder Woman was attached to. "To be honest with you, this may have been the most fun I've ever come up with. I think that even _you'll_ be impressed by this scheme."

Batman clenched his fists, his anger growing visibly every second. "As I'm sure that you recall, the Scarecrow's fear toxin is quite potent, and I was almost at a loss of ideas for how to make it even more terrifying, when it hit me out of nowhere!" He slapped his forehead to emphasize his point. "I remembered my good friend Pamela; you may know her as Poison Ivy, and she agreed to provide me with a large batch of her world famous, all natural, home cooked psychedelic hallucinogen! When mixed with the Scarecrow's formula, they make for a screaming good time! Just ask your friend over there! She was screaming real good for the first hour or so! I would have had to gag her if I hadn't been enjoying it so much! Then she went all quiet, though... Then again, it's a surprise that her mind hasn't snapped yet... Or has it? I've never been the best judge!"

This was enough to push Batman over the edge. He ran at the Joker, Batarang in hand, with the combined rage of Batman and Bruce Wayne. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He bellowed as he charged. He had made that threat many times before, but this time he meant it. He reached out to stab the force field. However hard he tried, the force field repelled him.

"It's been fun, Batsy, but I think that I'd better be going... You know, places to be, people to kill... Business as usual. He waved as Sinestro began to levitate, taking the crowd of villains with him. Soon, they were out of Batman's reach, and vanishing into the night. Batman realized that he had no choice but to turn to face Diana. As he gently lifted the mask off of her face, all of his rage turned to sadness. As hard as he tried, everything that he loved, everything that he even came close to would suffer for him. He shed a single tear as he cut loose the straps that bound her; once they were gone, she fell limply into his arms. How could he have let his happen to her? He carried her outside, calling the Bat-plane to him. He set her gently in the backseat. "I promise I'll make this right." He whispered, heading for the Watchtower.

Author's note: I really like how this turned out. I really just wrote this off the top of my head (even more than the rest of the story), but somehow it turned out alright. I tried to capture some of the emotions that you see in the Christopher Nolan movies, and it turned out okay in my book. It's out much sooner than I expected; it basically wrote itself.

In case you haven't noticed, I decided to go with the cunning and evil Joker, not the dumbass from the cartoon series who never really even came _close_ to doing anything right.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it- but if I'm going to keep this going, I'd really appreciate some feedback so I can know what I'm doing right and wrong. Thanks, and once again, you guys are the best.


	12. All Nightmare Long

Batman received many strange looks as he carried the barely conscious Winder Woman through the halls of the Watchtower; some looked at him with pity, others appeared to be suspicious, but none dared to confront him. Most were afraid of him anyways, and his scowl was more pronounced than ever before.

As he reached the infirmary, he entered his code. He passed through to enter the private ER. He gently laid Wonder Woman on the bed, and sat down in a chair nearby so that he could begin to process the night's events, and formulate a plan to fix the damage.

"Hey, Bruce... I heard you were back." The Green Lantern stood at the door. Bruce didn't answer. "How is she?" "Bad, now leave so I can think." "I'm sorry Bruce." He patted the Dark Knight on the shoulder. "I wish that there was something I could do to help her... and you."

"There is, John. You can leave." John sighed. He knew that it would be useless to argue, so he decided to leave the hero alone to brood. He exited the infirmary to find the rest of the Justice League originals waiting. "How is she?" asked Shayera. "Not good. If I didn't know better, I would've thought she was dead." "I'm going in there to see her..." Shayera began to step forward, until John reached out to stop her. "You'd better not." "Why?" "Bruce is in there, and he's not happy. Even worse than usual."

Shayera began to understand what he was getting at. "Poor Bruce... And it seemed like he was just starting to make a connection with her, too... Do you think it could be a coincidence?" "... No. Somebody's got it out for him." "John, he's Batman. Just about everybody has it out for him. But they're taking a new approach now... They know he has a heart and they're aiming for it... It's unbelievable!" "I know Shayera... I never knew he had enemies that cruel..."

After about and hour, Bruce had finally finished his planning. The floor around him was littered with scraps of paper with scribbled calculations and estimated outcomes. He took the blood samples that he'd taken, and ran them through various scans and filters to see which would be able to clear out the toxins most efficiently, and ran several chemical tests to see which would have the best chance at neutralizing the poison. He figured that the more he knew about the mysterious compound, the more effectively he'd be able to counter it. Finally, he had his own compound that he believed had a shot at fixing her, assuming that her mind hadn't been broken already. Eventually, he had to force himself to plug the tube containing the formula into her IV. Realizing that there was nothing more that he could do, he tried to come to terms with the fact that he had to wait. He couldn't stand it; he had never been able to deal with being helpless. When he'd lost his parents, he became the Batman to get revenge, and become a master escape artist to ensure that he could never be held dow. But now, he had finally encountered a puzzle that could only be solved by time. Once he realized how powerless he was, he began to lose hope. He reached out to stroke Diana's hair. He put his head on her bed, so the top of his head rested against the side of her stomach, and began to cry gently, for the first time since he was eight years old. "I'm sorry, Diana..." he muttered over and over again for hours until he fell asleep.

Diana had no idea where she was; all she knew what that she was terrified. She had been here for what felt like years. She couldn't move or speak; all that she could manage was a pitiful whimper. All around her, visions of her worst memories and darkest fears played out, as that horrible laugh echoed constantly. All that kept her sane was hope; hope that somebody would help her, or that she would somehow manage to escape from this hell. Suddenly, she heard a voice cut through all of the visions, and the echoing laughter. It started off faint and staticky, but grew louder and clearer as time progressed; "I'm sorry, Diana." Hearing this renewed Diana's hope. She began to struggle again, pulling apart the mental bonds that held her. Finally, she managed to force out a mighty battle cry.

Diana's eyes rolled back into place, allowing her to observe her surroundings. She looked around to see that once again she was in what appeared to be a hospital room, but this one had a relaxing, cozy atmosphere. She noticed a gentle weight on her forehead. She looked up to see a black-gloved hand resting on her forehead; she followed the arm to it's source, and was surprised to see none other than the Batman, who was still sitting in his chair with his head resting on her bed. She smiled a little bit to herself, then pulled Bruce's hand off of her forehead. She clasped it tightly for a moment, and tenderly pulled to her side, feeling to weak to hold it up any longer.

"Thank you, Bruce." She yawned quietly, before fading into a deep and peaceful sleep.

Author's note: Wow, this story really grabbed my attention; I can't seem to stop writing! Anyways, I didn't want to leave you guys hanging like I did with the last chapter, so I came up with this. This is definitely going to be the last one for tonight, seeing how I'm closing in on 2 AM again, and I start work tomorrow (No worries, it's only part-time, so I'll have more than enough time to keep working on this story).

I'd like to give a special shout-out to flaglmr18; this is exactly the kind of feedback that I need. Thanks for telling me that I'm rushing the plot; that's always been a bit of an issue for me. I tend to be a bit cut-and-dry with my writing, and usually prefer to just cut to the chase. That's a fine way to right an opinion/propaganda, but not a great approach for fiction writing. I'll take note of that and try to slow down a bit, but don't worry, the Joker's just barely begun his plot, so we've still got a ways to go. As for action, that's coming too; I thought that I would explore the characters' psyches a bit at the beginning of the story, just because they're great characters, and no superhero story is complete without a bit of brawling. Make that a lot of brawling, actually. And I chose to focus on Batman villains in particular because they didn't get much airtime on JLU, mostly because The Batman was showing at the same time and the writers wanted to avoid continuity confusion. Fortunately, this being , I don't have to worry about continuity, and I am free to pull stuff out of my ass. Regardless, Batman's enemies have always been my favorites, and I figured that they deserved a chance to go head to head with the Justice League. But like I said earlier, thanks for reviewing; I'll work hard to make the next chapter better!


	13. An Unstoppable Force

Author's note: Sorry this one took so much longer than the others. I had work today, and then I had to give my brain some time to come back to life after a few hours of bagging groceries. Not to mention that it was a bitch to write, but more on that later. We should probably check in on the Joker, because it's never a good idea to take your eyes off of him for too long.

Author's note (Yeah, agian): ARGH. I'm really sorry to the people who were waiting up on chapter 13, and came back only to find chapter nine again. I had a problem with mislabeled documents, and must have published the wrong one. Oops. Anyway, here's the real thing. Thanks to JLFAN () for pointing out my mistake; I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again. Chapter 14 is well on it's way, so keep an eye out for that.

Lex Luthor waited patiently outside the large, grey building that served as the Joker's hideout, waiting for the mad clown to return with news. Two Face standing directly behind him, held a gun to his head with one hand, and absentmindedly flipped a coin with the the other. Luthor turned to glare at him. "You can put that away. I'm not going anywhere."

"Damn straight." Two Face sneered, not lowering the gun. "The Joker told me to keep a close eye on you, and I don't like you anyway. He looked at his coin, and Lex saw temptation flare up in his left eye. "Don't even think about it. The Joker wants me alive."

Two Face frowned a bit, pocketing his coin. He had no idea what the Joker would do if he returned to find Luthor dead, but he did know that whatever it was, it wouldn't be worth it to pick off one little rat. No matter how much of an egotistical, smart-mouthed rat he was.

Eventually, Luthor noticed a dot of yellow light on the horizon. The dot grew quickly; soon, Luthor could see Sinestro, using his ring to carry the Joker and the rest of the group of villains that had been hand-picked by the Joker. They landed gently in front of the base, and the group began to make their way back inside to rest. The Joker split from the group and made his way over to Luthor; "Oh, Lexy, I just knew you'd stay out to wait for my return!"

Lex ignored the greeting. "Did you do it? Did you kill them?"

The Joker simply stared at him. "Why would I do that?" "That was the POINT of this goddamned mess of a plan! That's why I built you that goddamned torture device! And you're telling me you let them get _away_?" "Lex, Lex, Lex, Lex, Lex! They were supposed to get away! _That_ was the point!"

Lex stepped back in confusion. "What?" "Oh, don't worry, Lex. I'll get the Bat soon, and the rest of the Justice League'll go down with him!" "Well why didn't you just kill him tonight?"

The Joker let out a booming laugh. "If Batman was dead, then I wouldn't be able to use my next plan to kill him!" Lex Luthor was stunned for a moment, sent reeling by the Joker's logic. "You're mad!" "And you aren't?"

Lex realized that he would make no progress by trying to reason with the Joker. "Fine. What's your 'next plan?'" The Joker looked up in thought. "Well now that you mention it, I haven't quite decided yet..." He snapped his fingers in Two Face's direction. "Coin." Two Face obliged, pulling his coin from his pocket. "Alright... So here's what's going to happen. Good heads, we go with plan A." The Joker said. "Bad heads..." He began to rub his hands together in anticipation. "We use plan B. Now go!"

Two Face flipped the coin in the air, catching it on his right hand and slapping it onto the back of his left. The side that landed facing up was covered in deep scratches and burns.

The Joker cackled in delight. "Just what I was hoping for! Lexy, you are going to absolutely _love_ this little scheme!" Lex shook his head. "No. I've had enough. You're mad, and I don't want anything more to do with your insane games." The Joker frowned suddenly. "Now Lex... I thought we had an agreement." "I'm done." "Hmm... Well, the thing is Lex, you're a big part of my next scheme, so you see why I'd have a bit of a hard time letting you just walk away. Why don't you take a little walk with me?" "I don't think I will." The Joker shrugged. "Suit yourself. Harvey?" Two Face nodded, and raised the hand that he held the gun with in the air. He brought it crashing down hard against the back of Luthor's head. Lex fell to ground, knocked momentarily unconscious. The Joker looked at him grimly. "Go get Freeze." Two Face nodded again, and entered the base. The Joker turned his attention back to Luthor, who was now slowing awakening. He walked over to Lex, placing a foot on his back. "Lex, Lex Lex... Must you always be so difficult?" Lex pulled himself together. "I won't be intimidated by you, cretin. You aren't capable of destroying the Justice League; you can't even bring yourself to kill Batman. At least I _came close_ to beating them." He spat weakly.

The Joker smiled wildly. "That's where you're wrong, Lex. You see, you can't just kill a man like the Batman. Because he's not just a man, oh no. He's an example. You just can't kill him. You could try, but even if you succeeded, you'd only be making his example stronger. You should know. You want to get rid of Superman _ so_ badly. But you're not seeing the big picture. Say you kill Superman. But then what? He becomes even stronger as a martyr. He'll be out of the way for a few days at the most, but it won't be long at all until some other caped twit comes out of the blue to take his place. No no no. You have to do better than that... You have to stop his example. But how do you destroy an example? I'll tell you; you make it a bad example. You have to take everything that he stands for, and you have to turn it in on itself. Make sure that no one will ever want to follow that example. I don't just want to kill the Batman. I'm going to get rid of everything that he stands for. I've had enough of the system that he represents, with it's rules, and it's pretentious morals. So I'm ending it. Can you picture it? A world with no rules. Just complete anarchy. That's what I've got in store... And it all starts in Gotham. I'm going to turn the whole world against the Batman, and show them just how much fun it is in _my world._" The Joker finished his monologue with another wild laugh.

Lex was revolted. "How do you plan to do that? There's no way you could do that." The Joker only laughed harder. "Wrong again! You see, Batman isn't like Superman. The people don't love him like they do Superman. Don't get me wrong, they admire him, but make no mistake that they _fear_ him. And that's what I'll use against him. The very fear that he uses in his oh-so-noble crusade. I'll take his greatest strength and turn it into a weakness. That's why I needed the first step of my plan. I've taken his greatest weakness, and dragged it out into the light. Now I just have to find a way to turn the fear that he preys on against him. So..." He stepped off of Luthor. "Are you in?" Luthor stood slowly. He looked at the Joker thoughtfully for a moment, and then spat at his feet. "You're just a lunatic. You don't stand a chance." "I was afraid of that." The Joker turned, just in time to see Two Face returning from the base, with Mr. Freeze in tow.

"Ah, you're just in time." The Joker said, his grin widening. "It seems that Mr. Luthor is feeling very _uncooperative_. Maybe you could help bring him around to our noble cause?" He pointed at Luthor's leg. Mr. Freeze raised his gun, and fired without a word. The ray that was emitted hit Luthor's leg, encasing it in a block of solid ice. Luthor looked down in shock.

"Now, Lex old boy, I'm afraid that if you want your leg back, you're going to have to play along here. I guess that you could try to thaw it yourself, but I wouldn't risk it if I were you. That Ice will keep your leg cryogenically frozen, assuming you stay in a cold enough room. On one hand, that should keep any damage from cropping up; on the other hand, if it isn't thawed just right, then I can assure you that some very serious damage _will_ occur. As a matter of fact, Mr. Freeze here is most likely the only one qualified for the job. So, what'll it be?"

Once again, Lex sighed and bowed his head in defeat. "Fine." He said, filling his voice with as much contempt as he could fit into a single syllable.

"Good choice, Lexy. Although... You could have saved us both a lot of trouble if you'd just made it a bit sooner. What a pity. Take him to the cells." Mr. Freeze and Two Face each grabbed one of Lex's arms and pulled the resigned man back into the hideout.

Author's note: I'd like to do a bit of explaining about the Joker character that I'm using here; I decided to go in a bit of a darker direction here. I'm really modeling his character after Heath Ledger's completely sociopathic Joker from The Dark Knight, which is where I drew a lot of his ideals and speech patterns from. Just to be clear, I'm not just using that version (Simply for the sake of continuity), but I decided that I'd like to borrow some of his elements: particularly his sadistic and cynical attitude. As for his big plan, you know almost as much as I do; I'm experimenting a little bit with trying to get inside the Joker's head by forming the plan I go, just because the Joker isn't the kind of man to plan ahead too far; that would be contradicting his own philosophy.

Anyway, this chapter took longer than the others, and was much harder to write. I did a lot of research while I was trying to decide how to approach writing the Joker; I'm not completely sure that I'm really satisfied with how it came out; I'd like a bit of feedback on the character before I write any more about him. He's a tough character to write, and I want to see how people warm up to the character I'm developing for him.


	14. Confrontation

Diana slept for days, completely exhausted after her ordeal. Batman stayed in the infirmary for the whole time, carefully monitoring her condition. It seemed that she'd stabilized, but he still wasn't sure about the long term effects of the gases, and he wasn't one to leave a job half finished. He resolved to not leave the room until she had awakened, and he had run psychological tests to assess damage. Alfred knew the routine by now, and had concocted a reason for Bruce Wayne's sudden disappearance; business partners and friends who came looking for him were informed that he was on a cruise, and would return in several weeks. Food was brought to the room, although he ate very little of it. He had a pull-up bar installed in the room to maintain fitness; he spent most of his time doing pull-ups, pushups, and lifting weights. He encountered few disturbances. Wonder Woman had many friends, but most had the common sense too leave Batman alone when he was on the job. The one visit that he did receive came two days after the incident.

Batman heard a soft knock on the door. He ignored it. The visitor came in anyway. Batman was less than thrilled to see the Martian Manhunter, accompanied by Doctor Fate. J'onn stepped forward to get a closer look at Diana. "I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but I must inform you that your friend Tony Stark has been captured on a trip to the Middle East. Superman is trying to find him. He may be able to see through walls, but he is no detective." "Stark is no friend of mine. He's a warmonger, and a prick. Besides, I have business here." J'onn followed Bruce's gaze to look at Diana. "How is she doing?" He asked sadly. "Better, no thanks to you." Batman responded, clearly still bitter about J'onn's attempt to interfere in his rescue mission. J'onn sensed his resentment very clearly. "I'm sorry, Bruce. I did what I felt was necessary, as did you. Bruce scowled at him. "That's no excuse." He flashed a glance at Diana's sleeping form. "She needed your help. She needed all of you, and you were going to leave her to die."

J'onn stood silent for a moment. "We needed a plan. We wanted to know what was going on before we rushed into battle." "Sometimes you don't have time to figure out what's going on. There's a time for words, and there's a time for actions. She needed you to act, and you failed. You waited too long, and she ended up in the Joker's hands." "I'm sorry. I did not know that the Joker was involved." "Well you should have." "Bruce, I know that you don't really blame me for what happened to her." The Martian gave him a piercing look. "You blame yourself for getting her involved. And you shouldn't. Diana is strong and intelligent. She knew who she was getting involved with. You cannot hold yourself accountable for the everything that goes wrong in your life. As a human proverb says; 'Shit happens.'" Bruce shot the Martian a look, wondering what smartass had fed him that line. The smart money was on the Flash.

After several moments of silence, Doctor Fate stepped out of the shadows. "J'onn. We have business here." J'onn nodded, and walked over to Diana, placing a hand on her forehead and closing his eyes. Batman hovering protectively behind him. After a moment, J'onn opened his eyes and turned to Batman. "She is fragile at the moment. Her body may be healthy, but her mind is in ruins. She has seen all of her worst fears come to life, all at once. She will need several days to sleep so she can gather her thoughts and recuperate fully. I sense a strange presence in her mind. I cannot identify it, but it does not seem to be a threat at the moment." Batman nodded and turned to Doctor Fate. "And why are you here?" Doctor Fate approached Batman. "There is little that I can do for either of you at the moment. But as you know, I have offered my home as a shelter for lost souls. I am here to offer my services once she awakens. You see, I consider it to be my purpose to help those who have lost their way." He looked at Batman, with a knowing look in his eyes. "Of course, you would be welcome at any time as well." Batman nodded slowly, and Doctor Fate left the room . J'onn stepped closer to Bruce, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He followed Doctor Fate out of the room, leaving Bruce alone to think again.

Author's note: First off, I'd like to apologize for the mishap with chapter 13, the real chapter is up now, and I'd love nothing more than to get some feedback on it. Next, I'll apologize for the length of this chapter; it was going to be longer, but I decided to split what I had planned for this chapter into two parts so I could post this now. I think that this will stand on it's own well enough, and so will the next chapter. This chapter will mark the change from plot back to character development, but I'll be sure to throw in some good stuff to keep you guys from getting bored.

Now... Some of you may be wondering about all the Marvel Comics references that I'm throwing in here. If you're like me, and not a huge fan of Marvel, then don't worry; they won't be playing a huge part in this story. This, however, brings me to my next point; I'm not certain about my future on this site. Never fear, I have every intention of finishing this story, but I'm not sure where I'll go from there. Hell, I'm not even 100% sure where I'm going with _this _story. I may just drop off the scene after I finish it, but I have a few ideas that may or may not end up happening.

1- Rewrite this story. In all honesty, this story is a huge experiment for me. I'm really just writing it for fun, and I don't consider storyboarding and the like fun. As a consequence, I feel that the story is losing direction a bit. So for now, I'll just keep going the way that I have, but if I don't like the final result, I may use it as a rough draft to go back and fix all the plot holes and such that crop up.

2- Sequel. I have some mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I'd like to come up with a story line that incorporates the Avengers, but then again I'm not terribly familiar with Marvel and would probably screw it up. So I think I'll play it by ear for a bit. For now, I'll just focus on finishing this story, and come up with a plan of action after that, but I figured that I'd try to keep you guys in the loop. Once again, sorry about chapter 13, and sorry that the author's notes for this chapter ended up being almost as long as the chapter. My bad.


	15. Your Own Worst Enemy

Author's Note: This one took a lot longer than I expected, but it also ended up being a bit longer than I expected, so I guess it balances out. Just one thing before I get going; I _really_ need some more feedback on chapter thirteen; anything will help, but I want to know people's feelings about the Joker . So if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you to take a moment to write a review; it'll make writing the future chapters a lot easier. That about wraps it up... Let's get movin'!

Diana continued to sleep for nearly four days, her body and mind having been pushed far beyond their limits by the Joker's torture. Her rest was peaceful for the most part, although it was interrupted on occasion by nightmarish visions, all featuring the same awful laughter. The dreams always faded away in the end though, leaving her in a state of peaceful oblivion.

Diana slowly opened her eyes. She looked around her, wondering what had happened. As she observed her surroundings, she couldn't help but notice the shadowed form of Bruce Wayne, sitting in a chair next to the bed that she was lying in. She had little memory of the events that had occurred since her abduction; all she could remember were unspeakable visions of terror. She shivered upon recalling them.

"Bruce." Bruce's eyes snapped open as he lifted his head. "D-Diana?" He stammered as if seeing a ghost. "Are you alright?" Diana looked down at her hands. "I don't know. What happened to me?" "The Joker got to you." Diana looked back at him, with terror etched clearly on her face. "So it was all real?" Bruce sighed. "Yes and no. It was all an illusion. The Joker used a combination of hallucinogenic gases to make you think that what you were seeing was real. Do you feel alright?" "I'm not sure. How did I get out?" "It's not important." As he pondered his rescue mission, he noticed something that he'd missed; when he'd rescued her, she was still wearing her bracelets, lasso, and armor. He realized that this could only mean one thing; "The Joker planned to let you escape." "What do you mean, Bruce?" He could have easily taken your armor, leaving you completely powerless. It would have been the obvious thing to do if he really planned to kill you. This was just a demonstration. He wants me to know that he can get to me..."

Diana frowned, confused. "Why wouldn't he just try to kill you then? Isn't that what he wants?" Bruce shook his head. "The Joker is a sick man. His logic couldn't possibly make sense to anyone other than himself. It's better not to think about what he could be planning. It's impossible to guess his plans because nobody else could come close to comprehending them." Diana bit her lip. She still didn't understand the situation fully, but she knew that she didn't like her role in it at all. She wasn't one to play the damsel in distress, yet here she was, just a pawn in the game of chess that was the battle between Batman in the Joker. She shuddered a little, even at the sound of the name. Even though she had already begun to move past her trauma, that laugh still echoed around her head, haunting her. Bruce stood and turned to leave. "Wait Bruce!" He turned around to face her again. "Do you have to leave now?" "You seem healthy now. My work is done." "Please, just stay a little longer. I... I just don't want to be alone again." Bruce nodded slowly, and then sat down in the chair, beginning to doze off again. She smiled softly as she watched him sleep; it seemed to her that when he slept was the only time that he was at peace with himself. He stayed for another several hours, at which point he stated that he had to leave.

Word of Wonder Woman's awakening quickly spread throughout the watchtower, despite the fact that Batman had told nobody. She received many visits from her concerned Justice League friends. One of the more notable was from Zatanna.

"Diana, it's good to see that you're safe." "Thank you. I still can't believe everything that's happened... But enough about that. I'm still trying to put it all behind me. I hear that you're one of Bruce's old friends?" Zatanna laughed a little bit. "Yeah. My father helped him to train as an escape artist." "So you knew him before he became Batman?" "Yeah." "Tell me... What was he like back then?" Zatanna looked up thoughtfully. "He was quite a character. It was like he was the best of Bruce Wayne and Batman. He was quite the charmer... But then he left us. I met him years later, and he'd changed. It was like he'd ripped his personality down the middle. He was like a different man... Two, as a matter of fact. Deep down, he's still a really sweet guy, though. No matter what he wants you to think." She looked at Diana thoughtfully. "He really cares about you, you know." "Really? It's hard to tell, sometimes."

Zatanna laughed. "Well of course he wouldn't make it _easy_. But that's Bruce for ya. Of course, there's no way that he can hide it now." Diana raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What do you mean?" "You mean nobody told you how you got away from the Joker?" Diana shook her head. "You should've seen him when he found out that you'd been kidnapped. I was in the room when J'onn was trying to calm him down. It was scary... Scarier than usual, because he was totally out of control. I actually thought that he was going to kill someone. You should have heard his yelling at J'onn, because J'onn wanted to him to wait for backup. I was sure that he was going to get himself killed. Although... It was kind of cute, I guess. And when he got back with you..." Zatanna shuddered as she recalled. "I can't even describe it. It was like he'd lost his mind. I hope I never have to see him like that again." Diana was shocked. "He really did all that?" Zatanna smiled. "Well... I'm assuming that he didn't tell you that he stayed here for four days to be completely sure that you were alright?" "No... He didn't mention that..." "Of course he wouldn't... Men."

Batman sat alone at a tale, finally having left the infirmary. Soon enough, he was joined by the Green Lantern. "It's been a while since we've been able to catch up, Bruce, how've you been?" "Fine." John stared at him. "You want to talk about it?" "No." "Well that's too bad. 'Cause we're gonna talk." Bruce remained silent. John sighed. "Come on, man. You've got an Amazon Princess begging for just a little bit of affection from you. You're not allowed to complain." "It's not that simple, and you know it." "Yeah right. Either you love her or you don't, and you'd better make up your damn mind already." "... She's just a friend." "Like anybody's going to believe that after the stunt you just pulled." "You don't understand. If my enemies found out..." "I hate to say it, but from the looks of it they already know." "I can't let her get in harm's way again." John Laughed. "I honestly don't think that you can stop her."

Bruce got up to leave, and John shook his head. "Take it from me Bruce... You don't want to screw this up. You'll regret it." Bruce turned to face him. "Why don't you talk to Shayera, and sort your own problems out before you try to tackle mine." John quietly went back to his meal. "I thought so..." Bruce muttered as he left for home.

Author's note: I'm not entirely satisfied with this one. I thought it was a bit overdramatic, and maybe a bit too angsty, but I think that it illustrates the character traits that I'm trying to emphasize, so I guess it is what it is.


	16. Welcome to My Nightmare

Author's Note: I'm sorry about the last chapter being so dull, but I felt that it was necessary to maintain character death. However, as an apology, I'm now going to give you an action packed chapter, fight scenes included. YEAH! Just a little more talking first. Groan. On a separate note, I've just noticed a few similarities between the story I'm writing and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. But don't worry, the similarities will end here; I'm not going to have the Joker possess Wonder Woman's body, because that would be wrong on more levels than I am willing to count.

Bruce reappeared on the teleporter pad in the Batcave, to find Alfred waiting obediently as usual. "With all due respect Master Bruce... You smell terrible. How long has it been since you've changed your clothes?"

Bruce thought for a moment. He couldn't remember anymore; it seemed as though the days and nights had all begun to blur together. "I'm not sure, Alfred... How long was I gone for?"

Alfred looked at him concernedly. "About five days, Sir... Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, Alfred." Bruce said, collapsing in his chair in front of the Bat Computer. "I'm just a bit jumbled at the moment."

"Is it the lady, Sir?"

"Yes, Alfred."

"Might I suggest talking about it, Sir? It can do the mind wonders, after all."

"I don't want to burden you with my troubles."

"Master Bruce, I know almost all of your darkest secrets. I don't think that one more would hurt."

"Alfred... I told you about the time that I traveled through time with John Stewart, right?"

"I believe that you did."

"I saw my own future, Alfred. I met myself. I was just a lonely, bitter old man pushing a young boy down my own path. I'd never even thought about my future until then. I just knew that the right thing to do would be to keep being Batman, and suffer through it. but I can't do it forever, Alfred. And I can't keep letting others get hurt for my sake. It isn't right."

"Master Bruce... Your strength is admirable, but you needn't try so hard to be strong. While Batman may need to keep his brooding image intact, I see no reason why Bruce Wayne can't be happy. You mustn't blur the line between the two, or else I fear they'll both suffer for it."

"I can't put her in harm's way. Not after what happened to Jason. Not after what happened to Barbara. The Joker took her, Alfred. I almost lost her, just like Jason. I _won't_ let it happen again. She came so close to ending up like Barbara, an innocent victim of the Joker's mad schemes."

"I don't think that that's for you to decide, Master Bruce. I suggest that you respect her decisions; I assume that she knew what she was volunteering for when she decided to become Wonder Woman, as did Master Jason and Ms. Gordon. And yourself. If you're willing to put your life on the line for your ideals, then how can you you fault them for wanting to do the same? You must not allow your concern for them interfere with your duty; or theirs."

"Thank you, Alfred."

"Always happy to help, Sir."

Bruce looked at the Batmobile, and suddenly realized how long he'd been gone for. "Alfred, I'm going out tonight."

"Very well. May I recommend changing first? You really do smell quite strongly."

Later

Bruce jumped from rooftop to rooftop as he searched the streets of Gotham for any sign of disorder. He'd been out for no more than an hour when he heard footsteps behind him. He whirled around to see Deadshot; the near-suicidal assassin for hire. Deadshot approached the Dark Knight, with his hands in the air. "Easy." He said as he drew closer. "I'm just the messenger... For now." When Batman didn't respond, Deadshot reached into a pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a cell phone of sorts. He tossed it to Batman, and then made his exit by jumping to an adjacent rooftop.

Batman examined the device for a moment, but was interrupted when the screen came to life. A lifeless voice rang out from the speakers; "Receiving cal... Receiving cal... Transmission begin in three... Two... One." The screen blacked out for a second, then returned again, this time displaying a most unwelcome face.

"Testing... One, two, three... Is this blasted thing even on?" The Joker's face got uncomfortably close to the screen, so that all Batman could see was a large, yellow eye.

"What do you want, Joker?"

"There you are, Batsy! I was worried that you'd broken the communicator that I had delivered! You always did play rough with your toys, you know." The Joker laughed wildly.

"What do you want?" Batman repeated, adding a bit of a growl to his tone.

"Just calm down, I'm getting to that. But first... How's your girlfriend? I heard she was feeling a bit under the weather, and I thought it would be nice if I checked in on her. So how is old Blunder Woman? It would seem that I'd grown rather attached to her during her little _visit."_ The Joker let out a mocking cackle. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Batsy!"

Batman raised his voice again. "What do you WANT?"

"You never were You see... It greatly saddens me to say it, but I think that our little game just may be coming to a close, Batsy. I know, I know... I didn't think it would ever end either. But you see... I've got plans to make sure that I end up on top when the game does end. As you know very well, this game of ours won't end until one of us is dead and buried. And the fact that you won't kill me _should_ give me a definite edge. But unfortunately, you seem to want to drag the game out as long as possible... so what are we going to do here, Batsy? It has to end sometime and now seems like as good a time as any."

"What are you planning?"

"Uh-uh, Batsy. I'm not going to be the one to spoil your big surprise. You won't have to wait very long... Not long at all. You, see, I've decided to put my plans into action... _tonight_. I will give you a little hint, though... You see, I'd like to give you a better idea of what it's like to play the game on_ my side._" The Joker's smile widened even further.

"Never."

"Oh, Batsy... Why must you break my heart so? Of course, I've come to expect it by now. Fortunately, I've come prepared. You're going to play my little game, wether you want to or not."

Batman grunted in pain as a bullet grazed the side of his arm; he whirled around to see Deadshot waving at him from several rooftops away.

"Sorry, Joker's orders. Can't turn down a client, after all." Deadshot said, although his voice showed no signs of remorse. "Oh..." He added, reaching into a pocket. "He also sent these." Deadshot tossed over a box of Band-aids which Batman ignored. Deadshot jumped down from the rooftop, and into the sewers to make his escape.

Batman kneeled in pain for a moment, before quickly returning to his feet, remembering the Joker's communicator.

"That looks like it hurts, Batsy. But I guess that's why everybody hates shots!" The Joker cackled wildly, as the screen on the communicator faded. The screen began to display a countdown. '10... 9... 8... 7... 6..." Batman tossed in the air, as high as he could, where it exploded, letting out a cloud of burning confetti.

Batman still couldn't make heads or tails of the Joker's threats, but he had a job to do. He resumed his patrolling of rooftops, until something caught his well-trained eye; he saw two men meeting on the corner of a crowded street, looking around nervously. One handed the other a large wad of bills, and the the other handed over a square white package. The first man, took the package, pocketed it, began to walk away, only to bump into a large man who'd been standing directly behind him. "Hey, watch-" The man froze in fear as he looked into the eyes of Batman. Batman reached into the pocket of the man's jacket, and pulled out the package. He cut into it with a batarang, and a thick white powder poured out. Suddenly anger flowed though him; he returned his attention to the man, a glare on his face. The man tried to back away, but Batman grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him against the wall of a nearby building with a satisfying crunch.

The Dark Knight then turned his attention to the dealer, who was attempting to run away. He reached down to his utility belt and grabbed his bat-lasso. He threw it, wrapping it around the dealer's ankles, causing him to fall. Batman pulled the lasso, dragging the man back towards him, not realizing that he was beginning to attract stares from passerby. He lifted the man with one hand, and began to mercilessly pound him with the other, not stopping even after the dealer had lost consciousness.

Soon, he felt a light tap on his shoulder; he slowly turned around. A rather large man with a mustache stood behind him. Batman's rage flared even further as the man began to speak. "Calm down there, buddy, I think you got-" He was interrupted when Batman brought the unconscious drug peddler down on his head. He didn't stop there; he grabbed the nearest bystander, and threw them back at the crowd. Soon, a panic had begun to spread throughout the town.

Meanwhile, Flash sat at the desk in front of the computer in the central room of the watchtower. "Dammit, I hate monitor duty..." He moaned to himself, feeling the urge to run. "Nothing ever happens... I wonder if Fire's around?" He began to daydream, until an alert popped up on the screen. He jumped up; upon reading it, the look on his face turned from excitement to terror. He dashed out of the room.

"J'ONN! J'ONN! WHERE ARE YOU, WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE!" He shouted as he dashed through the hallways.

J'onn suddenly floated through the floor, causing Flash to run right through him.

"What is going on?"

Flash looked at him. "You aren't going to believe this... But it's Batman! He's in Gotham City, just beating people senseless!"

J'onn looked at him grimly. "Are you sure?"

"That's what the computer said."

"Then we have no time to lose. Go wait in the teleporter. I'll send Superman, Green Lantern, Zatanna, and Shayera to meet you there. Now hurry."

The Flash saluted, and then dashed away as J'onn sent out a telepathic message.

Batman's pile of victim's was growing steadily larger; the pile of unconscious bodies had grown to contain about twenty people when he heard a voice behind him.

"Stand down. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

Batman turned to see none other than Superman, who was leading the Justice League's strike force. Batman sneered, adjusting his position to a fighting stance.

Superman looked at him sadly. "So be it."

The two launched themselves at each other, with Superman throwing punches. Batman managed to dodge the first of them, but wasn't so lucky with the second. He was sent flying across the street; he took this opportunity to discreetly reach into his belt, and slip on the kryptonite ring that he kept with him at all times. He once again charged at Superman, this time taking the offensive and punching Superman in the center of the chest with the ring. Superman fell to his knees, momentarily stunned.

Shayera let out a battle cry, and then charged forward, mace in hand. She swung wildly, but Batman managed to sidestep her blows, causing her to rush past him. She whirled around, but was unable to locate him.

"Shayera, behind you!" John yelled, but it was too late. She felt a pressure on her wings, and she looked behind her to see that Batman had put a tight metal band around them. He jumped away to a nearby building, placing two metal circles on the wall. He pressed a button of the front of his belt, and Shayera felt a magnetic force pulling her towards the wall; her mace stuck to one of the circles, and the clip on her wings stuck to the other leaving her incapacitated. The Flash and Green Lantern both struck next, but Flash was quickly stopped by a trip wire and a few swift punches to the face. However, while the Flash diverted his attention, the Green Lantern snuck up behind Batman, conjuring a dome of green light around him. Batman punched the inside of the dome several times to test it's strength; upon realizing that it wouldn't break, he threw a bomb, which emitted a knockout gas. The Green Lantern took this as a sign of surrender, and waited a moment to make sure that the gas had time to take effect. He let the shield down and waited for the gas to clear. Before he could react, he saw Batman charging out of the cloud of smoke, wearing a gas mask. The Caped Crusader jumped, delivering a heavy punch to the Green Lantern's chest, knocking him out cold.

Batman then turned to Zatanna, the last member of the Justice League. She looked around at the other subdued heroes, and realized that she was outmatched. _'This is not good...'_ She thought to herself. "Niartser, mih!" She shouted, pointing her wand at Batman. A straightjacket covered in chains and padlocks appeared on his torso; he shrugged, and it fell to the ground. _'This is definitely not good at all...'_ "Hey, I'm your friend, remember? We all are! We just want to help you!"

Batman ignored her, and began to charge at her. _'Well, I tried...'_ She closed her eyes and braced herself, but the punch never came. She opened her eyes at was shocked to see Batman struggling against a golden rope that was tightly wrapped around his upper body, arms included. She followed the rope to see Wonder Woman, floating gently about the ground.

"It's good to see that you're feeling better!" Zatanna shouted. Wonder Woman smiled at her.

"It's good to be back in action." She pulled the rope, dragging the still struggling Batman towards her. Once he was close enough, she reached down to pull the kryptonite ring off of his finger, placing it back the lead compartment of his utility belt; she unclipped the belt, tossing it out of his reach. She looked around to see her allies beginning to recover. Upon seeing that Batman had been subdued, the Flash ran behind a building, returning quickly with a large stretcher with leather harnesses. Wonder Woman loosened her lasso, but before Batman could escape, Superman grabbed him by the arms, forcing him onto the stretcher. Batman continued to struggle against the harnesses, even though he had no chance of escape. Wonder Woman looked at him sadly. "What happened to him?" She asked, looking at the snarling form on the stretcher.

"We're not sure." Superman responded. "The problem is, he would normally be the one who'd be able to figure out his kind of situation. We're going to bring him back to the Watchtower so J'onn can take a look, and see was he can do. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be resting."

"I'm feeling better. And it looks like that's a good thing, too." She said, observing the damage around her."

"I guess so. Anyway, I'll get Shayera out, and Flash can grab John. Why don't you get Batman back to the Watchtower." She nodded, and looked at Batman who was still struggling. _'What happened to you, Bruce?'_ She thought to herself, as she lifted the stretcher and began to head for the Javelin.

Author's note: Alright! You wanted some action, so there it is. I'm sorry it took so long, but it is by far the longest chapter yet (at nearly seven pages and three thousand words), and fight scenes are hard to write. Especially if the fight scene involves one man taking down a whole team of superheroes. So anyway... What happened to Batman? Sorry, to leave you hanging, but this chapter was just getting way too long, and I wanted to post it already. So... I'll get right on that, but it might be another day until I can post again. But then again, I'm sure that some of you can figure it out.

Now I'd like to take a moment to thank the people who took time to review:

Silverknight: Thanks for pointing that out; I was using that kind of format in the earlier chapters, but I decided to experiment a bit. In retrospect, that was a horrible idea, but I guess we all have 20/20 hindsight vision, right? I'll try to keep that in mind for future chapters, and if get the time, I might go back and fix the other chapters.

Flaglmr18: Sorry, I really suck with dark humor, so I was trying to skip around it. I'll try to track down that movie, and see if I can't pick up a few tips though.

Thanks for taking the time out of your schedules to read, and I hope that I can keep satisfying you guys.

By the way, in case you haven't noticed, I've officially run out of ideas for chapter titles, and now I'm just stealing song titles/ lyrics. I'm thinking about starting a Guess the Song type contest, but I don't have any prizes, so that would be stupid. Feel free to guess away, though. Hope to see you soon.


	17. Just a Freak

Back at the Watchtower infirmary, Batman was still struggling with all of his might; he had nearly escaped twice during the journey back to the Watchtower. The rest of the original Justice League members and Zatanna were gathered around him.

Wonder Woman stepped forward, looking at him with concern. "Are you sure that that's really him?" J'onn nodded. "Yes. I can sense it." He picked up a syringe, filling it with a clear liquid. He approached Bruce carefully, and injected the liquid into his arm. Almost instantly, his body went limp. Wonder Woman gasped a bit. "Is he... Asleep?" J'onn shook his head.

"No. It is merely a temporary paralytic. If I am to properly analyze his emotions, then he must be awake, but we cannot risk his escape." He placed a hand on Bruce's forehead, closing his eyes as he did so. Almost as soon as he made contact, he recoiled in shock. "He is angry."

"Yeah... What was your first clue?" The Flash said, rubbing his jaw where Batman had punched him earlier.

"No... I have never felt such a rage before. Something is very wrong here." He once again place a hand on Bruce's forehead. "He has little control over his actions. This rage is not natural."

It was then that Diana noticed the wound from Deadshot's bullet. "What's that?" She asked, pointing. The edges of the wound were flaring red, as if infected.

J'onn bent down to examine the area in question. "It may be the solution to the puzzle." He said preparing another syringe. "It is possible that some sort of toxin may be the cause of his erratic behavior." He injected the syringe in Batman's arm, and began to draw blood. "If the bullet that hit him was laced with a toxin, than we may have found the cause.

"So does that mean that you can fix him?"

"I'm sorry Diana, but it isn't that simple. Many poisons that are designed to cause aggression have irreversible effects, and I fear that it would have to be very potent to have such a powerful effect using only traces left on a bullet. There... There may be nothing that I can do."

Diana bit her lip and turned away. She felt a hand on her shoulder; she turned her head to see J'onn, smiling reassuringly. "I will do everything that I can to help him."

Just then, the door opened, and the Green Arrow entered the room. "J'onn, there's a call for you."

"Who is it, and what do they want?"

"Couldn't tell ya, they won't talk to me. They say they want whoever's in charge."

"Tell them I'll be there soon."

Green Arrow nodded and left the room. J'onn returned his attention to the blood sample that he had obtained, placing it in a machine that would analyze the sample for any unusual toxins. He then injected Batman with a sedative, forcing him into a deep sleep. He then left for the conference room, followed by the rest of the Justice League members. Wonder Woman decided that she would stay with Batman, even though she hated to see him in such a state. She kissed his forehead and sat down to wait, as she pondered what had happened to the Dark Knight.

J'onn and the rest of the Justice League were gathered around the telescreen in the main room of the watchtower; on the screen was the mayor of Gotham City. They were locked in a fierce debate.

"He's a menace. He put more than twenty people in the hospital with severe injuries tonight, and I won't stand for it."

"With all due respect, Sir, I cannot allow you to take him at the moment. I must ask that you allow us to finish our tests before any action is made."

"I can't wait for that. He's proven many times that he isn't afraid to move outside of the law, and now he's crossed the line. I want him on trial, and if you stand in the way, than you'll be right there with him."

J'onn bowed his head solemnly. "We shall do what is necessary to protect our allies."

"I'm warning you, you're making powerful enemies. It won't just be my office coming after you. He's a dangerous vigilante, and you'd be best to turn him in right away."

"We cannot do that."

"So be it."

And with that, the Mayor cut the link. J'onn sat on his chair to ponder the League's current predicament.

When J'onn returned to the infirmary the blood test results had been finished. He looked at the results with a curious look on his face. He turned to Diana. "We are fortunate. The tests show that creating an antidote will be a simple matter. However, the implications of this revelation are very grim. It would seem that whoever was responsible for this intended for him to recover."

Diana scowled. "The Joker."

J'onn nodded in agreement. "Most likely. Even now, the authorities are demanding his arrest."

Diana's eyes widened in shock. "After all he's done for them? After all of his sacrifice? How could they do that to him?"

"You mustn't be too harsh, Diana. They fear him, just as Cadmus feared us. They are afraid, and are simply trying to defend themselves. Regardless of wether or not he was responsible, Batman did terrible things tonight, and it will not be easy for him to regain their trust. They had a delicate relationship to begin with, what with his willingness to act above the law when necessary."

"So what are we going to do? We will defend him, right?"

"Yes. We will do all we can, but they are threatening to come after us too if we interfere."

"Then so be it."

J'onn had compiled the antidote within a matter of minutes; he injected it immediately.

"The antidote should take effect immediately, but we will have to wait until he awakens to find out if it was successful. If you don't mind, I must go attempt to negotiate with the Gotham Police.

Diana nodded to acknowledge him, but continued to stare at Bruce until she heard J'onn leave the room. She stood up and approached Batman's bed. She quietly reached down, and pulled off his cowl. She could see the look of rage that had contorted his face, even in sleep, was beginning to dissipate, and she could see a look of content returning to his face.

Bruce awakened about an hour later; the first thing he noticed was a severe pain in his chest that worsened whenever he inhaled.

"Morning, sleeping beauty."

"D-Diana? What happened?"

"Nothing that you need to trouble with yourself right now... Let's just say that you had a busy night." Diana said, undoing the straps that had held his wrists in place. Once she had undone the clasp, his arms fell weakly to his sides, exhausted from a night of fighting and struggling.

Bruce tried to think back to what he'd done that night; he remembered seeing a drug dealer and moving in to intercept the deal, but after that all he could recall was a blur of red. He was distracted by the searing pain in his chest; he couldn't take a breath without grunting in pain. "D-Diana. I n-need you to t-take off my shirt."

She looked at him curiously, but obliged. She reached under his cape to pull down the zipper that it concealed, and slowly pulled off the upper portion of his suit. She gasped a little bit when she saw what it concealed. His torso was covered in scratches and scars, most of which it seemed that he had attempted to stitch himself; she noticed some particularly nasty ones on his side and left arm.

When Bruce looked down, he saw the source of his breathing troubles; a large line-shaped bruise circled around his entire chest.

"What happened."

Diana followed his eyes to the bruise and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but you didn't give me much choice there."

"What do you m-mean?"

Diana sighed. "Well, you're going to find out soon enough. Somehow, somebody got some sort of toxin into your body. We aren't sure about the details, but the important thing is that you went out of control and starting attacking everything in sight."

Bruce frowned. "It was the Joker."

"That's what we figured."

"D-Deadshot is working for him. That's why he shot m-me... That bullet was laced with a t-toxin... So the communicator he sent was j-just a decoy."

"You talked with the Joker? What did he have to say?"

"N-nothing important. He was just d-distracting me so Deadshot could take his shot. And I fell for it..." His head sunk. "T-tell me, Diana... How many people did I hurt?"

Diana looked away. "About twenty or so. Not to mention that you nearly took out the whole Justice League. The police are after you now."

"I shouldn't have d-done it. I should have known."

"Bruce, you can't blame yourself. It was the Joker and his poison, there was nothing you could have done!"

"I shouldn't have let D-Deadshot hit me."

"You made a mistake Bruce... It happens to the best of us."

"D-don't you see? You of all people should know... When you're d-dealing with the Joker, there is no m-margin for error. There's n-no room for imperfection. If you show the slightest sign of w-weakness, he'll take it and he'll use it as a weapon against you."

Diana turned back to look him in the eyes. "Is that why you can't accept your feelings, Bruce? You should know that they aren't a weakness. They're a strength. They're all that separates you from men like him. Being strong doesn't mean that you have to be alone!"

Bruce considered her words for a moment. Could he have been wrong? Was he really that similar to the Joker? He softened his gaze and gestured for Diana to come closer to him. She slowly walked over, and he moved over a bit so she could sit on the side of his bed.

"I have to turn myself in to the Police t-tomorrow. I've brought harm to the city, and I c-cannot go unpunished."

"Bruce, we both know why you can't turn yourself in. If you do, then they'll unmask you. That means that you'll never be able to be Batman again. You know that they won't dare to put a man as powerful and important as Bruce Wayne in prison for too long, and you won't be able to pay for your crimes."

Bruce sighed. "I'm sorry, Diana... You're right... About everything."

Diana picked up on the subtle hint, and took the opportunity to lie down on his bed, her head resting on his shoulder. She smiled for a moment, reveling in her victory. Bruce would never admit it, but in that moment, no matter how bad the situation seemed, he was happy.

Author's note: Alright! Another longer than average chapter. I really wanted to make sure that I wrapped up some loose ends now, because there's a chance that I may not have time to post tomorrow. I know how much people hate cliffhangers though, so I stayed up until TWO THIRTY IN THE MORNING to make sure that I got it done. Don't ever say that I don't love you guys.

A quick note on the last chapter; sorry that one took so long too, it took a long time to finish, and then the site wouldn't let anybody view it, so I had to delete the original and repost. But it's up now, and I think it's worth it, so enjoy. Check back soon, hopefully I'll be able to finish another chapter before work!

One more thing. I have decided that, time allowing, THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL. I already have a few ideas that I won't be able to properly work into this story, so I think that I'll put those on hold and use them later. On the other hand, that means this story might be a bit shorter than originally planned, but I don't see it ending anytime soon. Although it could, because I'm really just throwing things off the top of my head. Thanks for reading, and please review. I'm going to sleep now.


	18. Homecoming, Acceptance

Author's note: Alright, now I'm pissed. I'm having some serious issues here; it appears that for some reason, chapters sixteen and seventeen are only being displayed intermittently. That REALLY annoys me, because I worked particularly hard on those chapters, and I hate to hold up the people waiting for an update here. Please keep in mind that I'm doing everything I can (read: waiting) to get this sorted out. If the problem persists until tomorrow, then I'll send an email to for help. In the meantime, you can help me get this figured out by sending me a private message or leaving a review to tell me if you can see this. But anyway, let's get the show on the road. This is looking like it could be another fairly mellow chapter, but damned if I know.

Word spread quickly through the Watchtower. Bruce suspected that Flash had been the one to see one to peek through the infirmary door to see Diana cuddling against him, as he was the only one capable of spreading the work around so quickly.

He was up and moving within a day; he was still in pain, but he wouldn't let the others know that. He'd dealt with more severe injuries anyway. Anyway, he felt that he deserved to be in pain after what he'd done. He had begun to vaguely remember the last night. It was faint, but the visions haunted him.

He meandered around the Watchtower for a while; he refused to stay in the infirmary; he felt too vulnerable there, and felt unwelcome in Gotham. He wandered for several hours, receiving strange looks everywhere he went. Some had heard of his incident in Gotham the night before and looked at him in fear, some had heard that he'd slept with Wonder Woman and looked at him curiously, and some had heard both and just looked confused. Bruce was growing tired of the stares, and debating finding a place to hide when J'onn sent out a telepathic message calling League members to the main room.

The fifteen or so Justice League members present on the Watchtower convened in the main room; J'onn stood by the computer, directly in front of the crowd.

"We have a high priority situation in Nevada; I am receiving reports of a giant green monster running loose and smashing buildings. It would appear that our friend Mr. Banner has lost his temper again. We will move out immediately. Be on guard. Now... To the teleporters."

The Justice League members followed his orders and began to file out of the room. However, as Batman turned to follow the crowd, J'onn stopped him.

"I'm sorry, but I think that the best course of action for you right now would be to keep a low profile. I must ask you to stay here."

Bruce knew that he was right, but it wasn't in his nature to stand down without a fight. "You know that you can't stop me, right?"

"Yes. That is why I must depend on your common sense to keep you out of the public eye. Might I suggest returning home for a while?"

Bruce turned away, and J'onn began to make his way to the teleporters. As he reached the door, he was stopped by Wonder Woman.

"Don't worry, J'onn. I'll stay here and keep an eye on him."

J'onn nodded in agreement. "Take care. We will be be back soon." He left to join the rest of the team, leaving the Watchtower deserted, with the exception of Batman and Wonder Woman.

"You know... We're all alone here. " Wonder Woman said suggestively. Batman looked at her for a second before responding. "No we aren't." He pointed at the ceiling. "Hidden cameras. They're everywhere."

Wonder Woman looked at him suspiciously. "What makes you think that there are cameras here?"

"I put them there."

Diana rolled her eyes a little. "Typical. You really don't trust anyone, do you?" Bruce remained silent, before heading for the Javelin Bay. Diana followed him. "Where are you going?"

"Home. I have a lot to figure out."

"Mind if I go with you? I might be able to help."

Bruce nodded slowly, before continuing on his way, with Diana following.

They arrived at Wayne Manor shortly, dressed casually. Bruce lightly knocked on the door; Alfred answered almost instantly.

"Oh, thank heavens you're safe, Master Bruce. I was beginning to fear the worst."

"I'm fine Alfred."

"And I'm glad to hear it. Please, do come in." Alfred said, stepping aside so Bruce and Diana could pass.

"Now, Sir... If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know what's been going on."

"It's a long story, Alfred."

"Don't worry, Sir. I already have most of the details."

"... What do you mean?"

Alfred didn't answer. Instead, he walked over to the television and turned it on. The TV was tuned in to a news station, playing footage of Batman. It depicted Batman roaring in rage, and lifting a man by the throat. He looked directly into the camera and snarled. He brutally threw the man in the direction of the camera before the film cut.

Bruce looked at the TV with disdain and turned it off. Alfred sighed. "So you really did do it, then?"

"Yes, Alfred. I did."

"But why?"

Bruce remained silent, so Diana cut in. "It wasn't his fault. The Joker somehow poisoned him so that he would lose control." She approached Bruce and embraced him in a hug. To her surprise, he didn't try to push her away (not that he would have fared well against her super strength), and even returned her embrace a little. Alfred smiled a bit. "Well... It seems that something good has come from this mess."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Alfred."

"You know very well what I'm talking about."

Diana grinned to herself, wondering how a butler and his master could have such a deep and caring relationship. She let go of Bruce and looked into his eyes for a moment. She gently grabbed his hand, and began to pull him towards his bedroom. They entered, and sat on the bed. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"I think you know what I want."

"I'm sorry, but I don't."

"Well then... Maybe you should stop thinking like Batman..." She pushed him backwards onto the bed. "And start thinking like Bruce Wayne."

Downstairs, Alfred sighed slowly. "Ah, to be young again..."

Author's note: Damn, Diana moves fast. Anyway, not much to say about this chapter, because there really isn't anything here. Oh well, it happens, I guess. There are really two reasons that I posted this; the first is a bit more setup for the SEQUEL, which you should be EXCITED about, as evidenced by all the CAPITAL LETTERS. No, I don't mean the Hulk reference, he probably won't make an appearance, because I know virtually nothing about him. The second reason is the one I mentioned in the first Author's note; I want to know if has their shit straight yet, so please get back to me on that. Anyway, more as soon as I figure out what to write. I have another day off tomorrow, so I guess I'll talk to you then.


	19. See the Light

Author's note: So, the last few chapters contained quite a few twists and turns that even I didn't see coming. As you can imagine, this is a bit problematic; now I have to get the story on track again. It might take a bit, but I'm confident that I can do it. I'm satisfied with the last few chapters (with the exception of the last one). So... Let the Journey to return to the plot commence!

Bruce continued to lie awake for several hours. He stayed perfectly still, to avoid waking Diana, who slept next to him. He couldn't fall asleep; he was too busy thinking. Loving Diana had been strange. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was somehow different from any other woman. After hours of deep thought he finally came to a conclusion. She was the connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman. Maybe she could actually help him? Maybe... Just maybe, he wasn't beyond saving? But he had learned long ago not too let his hopes get to high. Many a time, he had though that he'd found happiness, only to have it snatched away and pulled out of his sight. It was better to play it safe. And yet, he couldn't let her go. He turned restlessly. He knew that he was putting her in danger. But on some level, he didn't care. He realized that he was being selfish, and despised himself for it, but he couldn't tell her to leave.

He was somewhat surprised when he felt Diana's delicate but strong arm wrap over his shoulder. He rolled over and looked into her beautiful blue eyes.

"Bruce why are you still awake?"

"Can't sleep."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes."

Diana looked at him for a moment. "You miss it, don't you? Being Batman?

Bruce nodded slowly. "It's my job to make sure that nobody ends up going down my path again. Nobody should ever have to go through the things that I have."

"Why do you have to be the one, though? Why must you be the one to suffer for everybody else's sake?"

"Because nobody else will."

This was the quality that Diana had fallen for. HIs determination to do what was necessary, no matter the cost. He possessed the spirit, of a true warrior. She wrapped her arms around him more tightly. "I can help you do that Bruce. I can help you move on. I can help you to be Batman because you want to help... And not because you feel that you have to."

Bruce wondered if this was even possible. He'd dreamed of such a future for many years... But he'd never been this close before. For the first time since he was eight years old, he could almost taste a normal life.

Diana saw the look of longing in his eyes and seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"Now why don't you try to get some rest." She said, smiling. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"With Batman out of the picture for now, I have you all to myself. And I plan to take full advantage of it.

Bruce and Diana spent the next day on the town. Bruce couldn't remember the last time he'd had fun with someone else this way. It seemed like it must have been years. The closest that he usually came to enjoying himself was pounding criminals into a bloody pulp. The only time he socialized with friends was when he was trying to protect his secret identity. He realized that Diana was right; at some point, the Batman had established complete domination over his life. The roles had somehow been reversed, and Bruce Wayne had become nothing more than a cover for Batman. But no more. He swore that he would no longer be dominated by the Dark Knight.

They ended the day with dinner at a restaurant that Bruce had bought during an investigation of the Penguin; despite having quite an unusual backstory, the food was excellent. They had barely finished eating, however, when Bruce looked out the window and into the night sky. There he saw a very unwelcome sight; the Bat-signal. Diana followed his gaze, noticing the sign as well.

"You should go Bruce."

Bruce nodded, realizing that she was right. He would have to confront the police about his actions soon eventually, and now seemed to be as good a time as any. He paid the check, and began to return to the Batcave to change into his Bat-suit.

Later

Batman scanned the roof of the Gotham Police Headquarters. There was no sign of a trap; only Commissioner Gordon standing alone on the rooftop. Batman jumped down to meet him, while Wonder Woman gently floated down behind him. Gordon turned to face the Batman, and was shocked to see that he wasn't alone.

"Hello, Batman... I see you brought company?"

Batman grunted. "Why did you call me?"

"Why do you think I called? The whole city is looking for you! The mayor is coming down hard on me to bring you in."

"Like you could."

"That's not the point. I need to know if I can still trust you. I need to know what happened the other night. Was that really you?"

Wonder Woman interjected, knowing that Batman would twist the story out of guilt. "The Joker used some kind of toxin to force him to act more aggressive."

"That sounds like the Joker's M.O... But how did he get the toxin to you?"

Batman raised his arm; the tear in the Bat-suit had yet to be repaired, and the bullet wound was still clearly visible. Gordon looked at it in awe.

"You mean... He actually hit you?"

"Not him. It was Deadshot. It seems that The Joker has employed a wide range of criminals."

"So the Joker is up to his old tricks again... If he's involved, then I can't let you go to jail. You keep a low profile, and I'll do what I can to keep the Police Department off your tail... But it's certainly a shame... I was beginning to hope that he'd just keep his head down this time... Some things never change, I guess... But then again..." He shot a glance at Wonder Woman. "... Some things do. Congratulations, by the way."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Batman growled.

"Whatever you say..." Said the Commissioner. Wonder Woman gave him a small wink. When he returned his attention to Batman, the Dark Knight had vanished. Wonder Woman rolled her eyes a little bit, and pointed to a nearby rooftop, where Batman was dashing away.

"Gee... Thanks."

"No problem." Wonder Woman said, beginning to fly after Batman.

Author's note: Once again, a fairly mellow chapter. However, this one contains some character development that could end up being pretty significant in the future, so it isn't nearly as pointless as the last chapter. I figured that it would make it easier to keep the characters in character if I took some time to really analyze them, and see what I came up with. It's been about 18 chapters already, and I did list it under the romance category, so I guess I owe those of you who came here for that aspect of the story a look into Batman and Wonder Woman's relationship. I think that they have some interesting chemistry, and I was personally disappointed that the the Justice League TV series never seriously explored their relationship like they did with Hawkgirl and Green Lantern, instead shoving into the joke episodes (Kid Stuff, This Little Piggy, etc.), which ended up being a major factor in my writing this story. I meant to get to that aspect of the story much sooner, but I kind of like the way it turned out; it makes sense that Bruce would take his time in working into a relationship and then just surrender completely. His trust is hard to earn, but he's very loyal. I'm also doing some experimenting with separating his character into both Batman and Bruce Wayne; I know this has been touched on many times before, but I'm trying to develop them into two completely separate characters (I promise that I won't throw in a Superman III self-confrontation showdown, because that was confusing as fuck). So if you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate if you could drop me a line and tell me what you think of how I'm doing with that.

Anyway... The stage is almost set for the next phase of the Joker's plan. What's the plan? You'll find that out soon enough. If you want a hint, you can go back and take a quick look at chapter 11; but the hint I left there is very subtle, and you may need a bit of knowledge of psychological procedures to figure it out. I'm not saying any more, you'll just have to wait a little while. There may be a couple more chapters with a lot of filler, but it won't be long until I have everything straightened out again.


	20. Black Diamond

Bruce and Diana promptly returned to the Batcave. As soon as they entered, Diana emitted a huge yawn. "You know, Bruce, I have no idea how you keep such late hours all the time... I'm already exhausted." She yawned again.

"Exhaustion can wait for the daytime. I can't afford to be tired at night." Batman pulled off his cowl and began to think. No matter how hard he tried to guess the Joker's plan, he couldn't come up with anything. The Joker was as mad as he was intelligent, making him almost completely unpredictable. Bruce knew that trying to guess the Joker's plans was a fool's errand, but he was the only one who knew the Joker well enough have a chance of succeeding. The Joker's recent actions had left him puzzled; the Joker had only taken one life, and instead seemed to be focusing on making negative PR for Batman. He still saw no connection between recent events and Diana's kidnapping... Unless...

"Diana. I need you to tell me everything that you remember from when the JOker captured you."

Diana shuddered, but forced herself to recount the events. "I don't remember much... I was strapped on to some sort of operating table, but before I could look around they knocked me out again. Then the nightmares started."

Bruce looked her curiously. "Have you noticed anything strange since then?"

Diana thought for a moment. "Not really."

Bruce stood up. "Be on the lookout. I don't think that he would go through all the trouble of kidnapping you just to torture you."

"Really? Because it sounds exactly like the kind of sick thing that he would do."

"Which is why it's unlikely that that's the case. Nothing is as it seems with the Joker. It's as if he'll change his thought processes as soon as he feels that he's becoming predictable. I think that he kidnapped you as a cover... To do something else."

Diana looked at him nervously. "Like... Like what?"

Bruce saw the look of panic in her eyes. "Never mind. It's probably nothing. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just a bit on edge."

Diana wasn't completely reassured, but she remembered her warrior's pride and forced herself to swallow her fear. "It's fine, Bruce. I feel fine."

"Good. Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest? We're going to have a long day tomorrow. I plan on getting some answers."

Diana pulled off her bracelets and boots. "Why don't you come get some rest with me?"

Bruce was tempted, but hid it quickly. "I have work to do. I need to figure this out as quickly as possible."

"I can wait." She said, leaving the Batcave. Bruce sighed, wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into.

The next day, the Justice League gathered around the table in the conference room. Superman was leading the meeting. "This has gone too far. We have to refocus all of our resources into finding the Joker and stopping him before he can do any more harm."

Batman shook his head. "It won't do any good. Whatever you do, the Joker will be planning on it. You'd be best to go about your business and leave the Joker to me. We should keep the operation small so we put the smallest possible amount of people in danger."

"But Bruce, if we can help-"

"You can't. So don't waste your time."

Superman sighed. "Bruce, this isn't just your problem anymore. The Joker isn't just targeting you, he's already gotten to Diana. It's only a matter of time until he comes after the rest of us."

Batman glared at him. "One. When we're on the job, don't call me Bruce. Two, the Joker went after Diana because he found out that she was close to me. So if you're afraid, then I would suggest watching your back and _not getting involved._"

Superman realized that he was getting nowhere. "Fine. You're in charge here, involve who you see fit. On two conditions. First, I want constant updates on whatever your up to. Second, you call in for backup when you need it."

Batman nodded, and Superman seemed content. "So, Bruce I hear that Diana moved in with you?"

Bruce glowered at him. "Where did you hear that?"

Superman gestured towards his ear. "Super hearing. I hear a lot of things. Congratulations, by the way."

Diana looked at him coldly. "Quite frankly, I don't see how that's any of your business."

The Flash looked at the three of them uncomfortably for a moment, before settling his gaze on Batman. "Geez, Bats. You're really rubbing off on her..." He said, earning himself a glare from both Batman and Wonder Woman.

"This meeting is finished. We have nothing more to discuss." Batman stood up, and began to leave, with Wonder Woman behind him. The rest of the league simply stared at them as they left.

"Alright, somebody want to fill me in here?" The Flash said, still sounding slightly bewildered.

J'onn looked up sadly. "They are both lonely and in need of companionship. They are both outsiders... A feeling that I understand all too well."

"Amen to that..." Shayera chimed in. "Although... they are kind of cute, aren't they?"

The rest of the League looked at her, surprised by her statement.

"What?

Author's note: Alright, the filler is coming to an end. I'm sorry if this is frustrating you, but I've got to set the stage for what's coming up... It's gonna be good. I hope.

I'd really like to thank all or you who've added this story to their story alerts/ favorites; the support means a lot to me, and it's keeping the story going. It's been less than a week, and we're coming up on 2k views for the month, and I'm starting to feel a bit of pressure to keep up. Don't worry, though. I do most of my best work under pressure. I'll get right to work on the next chapter. I'd still like a bit more feedback on how I'm handling the characterization, though. Those of you who've helped have been great, but I'd like as many opinions as possible. Thanks, you guys rule. Check in again soon.


	21. Batman Returns

Author's note: Alright... I've hit a speed bump. I know what I've got going on now, I and I know where I want the story to go, but, I'm not completely sure about how I'm going to connect the two points. But then again, that hasn't stopped me yet. Fuck it, I'm just gonna wing it for a little longer. If nothing else, it'll draw the story out a bit, so no complaints here. I'm still really enjoying writing this, and I hope you're enjoying reading.

Batman had returned to his normal routine of scoping out Gotham at night, with Wonder Woman accompanying him. As much as he'd grown to enjoy her company, this proved problematic. With his newfound infamy came an increased need to hide in the shadows. As one can imagine, this did not come easily to Wonder Woman. Her ostentatious armor made it difficult for her to blend in with the darkness. To remedy this problem, Bruce decided to lend her a cape that she could use to conceal her flamboyant outfit.

"How do you fight in this? Doesn't it get in the way when you try move?" She asked, looking at herself in a mirror in the Batcave. The cape wasn't designed for someone with her build; the length was about right, but it sagged over her shoulders. "I think I have a better idea." She said, looking over her shoulder at the case where Batman kept the spare bat-suits.

"No." He said. "Don't even think about. it."

"Why not? The whole point is to avoid being seen. No one will ever know."

"No. And that's the end of it."

A half an hour later, Diana was wearing the old Batgirl costume over her armor. It was a bit tight, as Barbara Gordon hadn't had Diana's Amazonian build, but it fit well enough.

"Maybe you could get Alfred to loosen this a bit tomorrow?"

Batman glared at her. "Don't push your luck."

"Fine then, I'll ask him myself."

They left the Batcave on foot; the Batmobile would attract fat too much attention. Wonder Woman's flight allowed them to move quickly. In what seemed like no time, they were on a factory rooftop in the outskirts of Gotham City. Batman had received tip that a heist was being planned by some high profile criminals, and he didn't want to miss it.

Sure enough, around midnight, the pair spotted a pair of suspicious looking men breaking into the factory. Wonder Woman began to move in to stop them, but Batman stuck an arm out to stop her. "I want to know what they're after."

Wonder Woman sighed, and stood down. She wasn't used to letting criminals go about their business, but she figured Batman knew what he was doing.

They quietly followed the thieves into the building, making to hide in the shadows. The thieves appeared to be very nervous, constantly looking over their shoulders. They made their way fairly deep into the factory; it seemed that they had come in search of a certain item. Batman and Wonder Woman stealthily followed them as they worked their was to the center of the factory.

They quickly found what they were looking for. It appeared to be some sort of transmitter. They began to lift it, and return the way they came. Wonder Woman looked at Batman, and he nodded slowly. Without a word, the two of them dropped down from the rafters they'd been hiding in, landing directly in front of the two criminals. They dropped the device and began to run away. Batman threw his Bat-lasso, which wrapped around one of the criminals legs. Wonder Woman launched a sliding tackle to topple the other.

Batman lifted one of the criminals by the collar. "Who sent you here?"

"I-I can't t-t-tell you..."

Batman threw the thief into the wall, and then ran and jumped, landing on top of him.

Wonder Woman watched, shocked. "You're going to hurt him!"

Batman continued to stare directly into the criminal's eyes. "I might."

The thief started to sweat visibly. "Fine, alright, just don't hurt me! We... We just came here to steal some stuff so we could make some money..."

Batman lifted the criminal by the collar of his shirt, and pulled his face to with inches of his own. "I know you're lying to me. If you just wanted something to steal, you would have grabbed the first piece of equipment you saw and left. You were after that transmitter, and _I want to know why._"

The thief gulped. "I-i-i-it was the... Hehe... Hehehe... HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The thieves both broke out in uncontrollable dropped him instantly. Wonder Woman looked on in shock. "What happened?"

"The Joker got to them."

"What? How?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. It looks like he planted a bug and remote-detonated bombs containing his laughing gas. Don't get too close."

"They're still alive... Maybe we could take them back to the WatchTower and see if J'onn can read their minds?"

"No. It's a waste of time. Their minds are gone now. Keep quiet for a second."

Batman listened intently. He heard a very faint ticking noise.

"GET OUT NOW! MOVE!"

He grabbed her wrist and began to pull her towards the exit. Before they could make it out, they heard a loud boom, and the roof began to fall.

"Bruce, get down!" Diana shouted. Batman ducked to the floor. Diana looked up at the ceiling, focusing intently.

"Hera! Give me strength!"

As the ceiling fell around them, she caught the pieces that fell near them and hurled them away. By the time they managed to escape the building, a crowd had gathered. Upon seeing them, the crowd worked itself into a fervor and began to rush towards them.

"Great." Batman murmured under his breath. His stealthy operations had been blown to hell. He pulled out his grapple gun, wrapped an arm around Wonder Woman's waist, and pulled them to the safety of a nearby rooftop. Exhausted, the pair fled to the Batcave.

Author's note: I don't like this chapter, but it contains some necessary elements that'll really help get the story going again. I think that I'm going to stall it for a it longer, but I'd like to have the plot ready to go when I'm ready to get the story going again, if that makes any sense. There was supposed to be more to this chapter, but I decided to cut that and post it as the next chapter. I already have it completely planned out, so it won't take very long. I'd say a couple of hours, if that. Anyway... The next chapter is going to be more than a little bit gruesome, so be ready for that. Sorry this took so long, I wasn't feeling terribly motivated, and put off starting it, and I had a long work day, but here it is. As usual, please tell me what you think, all opinions are welcome.


	22. A Few Cards Short of a Deck

Author's Note: I think that I'm finally ready to give the Joker another shot. It's tricky because he's such a versatile and unstable character and because he's been portrayed in so many different ways. I'm really just taking my favorite aspects from all of them; as I said, my favorite is the Nolan/Ledger Joker, so that's the one that's going to be the most prominent. Just for the record, this chapter is going to get VERY graphic. I'll try to tone it back a bit, but I'm trying to make a point, so there's only so much that I can do.

The Joker sat on a throne in the center of his hideout, glaring at the Riddler who cowered before him.

"Your men failed, Eddie. That means you failed me. I'm not happy about it. And as you know, I really don't like to not be happy."

"I-I'm sorry! I can get the transmitter if you give me another chance! I'll get a better group, and I'll go in myself!"

The Joker put his hand over his face. "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie... What am I going to do with you? You _can't_ steal it now, not now that Batman knows I want it! He'll never take his eyes off of it now!"

The Riddler began to shake in fear. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But you still have Luthor, right? He can build one."

"You see Eddie? This is why _I'm _in charge. _That was _the last part that Lex needed for what I'm having him made now." The Joker looked at him, with a completely insincere look of sadness. "How'd you let this happen, Eddie? You said you'd send your best men. What happened?"

"Th-they were my b-b-best!"

"And yet, here we are. I had to neutralize those men myself. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but I shouldn't have had to. You said that 'there was no way they'd be caught.' And yet... Here we are."

"I trained them myself! I used every method I could to prepare them for Batman's interrogation!"

"And that's where you went wrong. When you prepare someone to be interrogated, it means you're planning to be caught. And once the Bat catches you and has you backed into the corner, it's all over. You couldn't expect two common thieves to withhold information from Batman! That's just foolish. So, accordingly, I'm holding _you_ personally responsible for their failure."

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry!"

"I'm sure you are... But action must be taken. It's nothing personal, just business." The Joker said, casually drawing a small knife from his pocket. "Of course... There's no reason that business can't be fun, right Eddie?"

Before the Riddler could react, the Joker had leapt on top of him, laughing wildly. "You know, Eddie, you're always wound up so tight. I think you should smile more." He slashed at the Riddler's face, clumsily carving lines extending from the corners of his mouth to his ears. He then proceeded to stab the body viciously, partially to make sure that the job was done, and partially because he was rather enjoying himself. Once he was finished, he stood up, threw the knife to the corner of the room, and brushed of his jacket.

"HARLEY!"

Harley Quinn entered the room almost immediately. "Yes, Mista J? She noticed the mangled corpse on the floor. "Aw, Puddin'... Do you always have to make such a mess? Couldn't you have just used the gas or somethin'?"

"I was trying to send a message... I hope he got it..."

"Hm. Okay. BABIES! DINNER!"

Upon hearing her shout, Harley's two pet hyenas bolted into the room, diving into the Riddler's body. The Joker watched calmly.

"It is a pity... He always did make the best crossword puzzles... Oh well," he said, perking up. "There's always the paper!"

"That reminds me, Mista J. There was somethin' in the paper that you might wanna take a look at..."

She ran out of the room, returning momentarily, newspaper in hand. She passed the paper to the Joker, who eyed it carefully. The headline instantly caught his attention. It read '_Batgirl Returns?_' He took a closer look.

_'Late last night, a break-in was reported at a factory owned by Gotham-based company Wayne Enterprises. However, when police had arrived on the scene, the building was on the verge of collapsing. Investigators announced today that the trauma was caused by a low caliber explosive, which caused key structural features to collapse. Seen fleeing the crime was wanted vigilante 'Batman.' Accompanying him was a female counterpart named 'Batgirl'- it is unclear if this is the same Batgirl who stopped operating with Batman several years ago, or a new Batgirl. Two bodies were found in the wreckage; they are believed to be the two men who were seen breaking into the building. The bodies have yet to be identified. Police have yet to release a detailed report of the case, although Police Commissioner James Gordon did release a statement saying the explosion did not appear to be the handiwork of Batman and Batgirl. Wayne Enterprises executives have stated plans to rebuild the factory...'_

The Joker grinned broadly. "Well... Its seems as if we may not need the transmitter after all." He looked at the Ridder's mangled corpse. "Good news, Eddie! Your boys did me well after all!" He frowned momentarily. "It's a shame you're dead." He then smiled again, and began to laugh.

Author's Note: There were two main points to this chapter; the first was to establish the joker as a sadistic sociopath. The second was (as bad as it sounds) to kill the Riddler. I kind of threw him in the first chapter just because I figured he was an important part of Batman's Rogues Gallery. Later, I realized that I really suck at coming up with riddles, and that I would be awful at writing his parts. So... Yeah. This happened. I'm sorry to any Riddler fans, but... Yeah. I think the Joker made his point. As usual, I'd love feedback on characterization. I really want to know what you think of the Joker character that I'm working on. As flaglmr18 suggested, I tried to use some dark humor. It's a bit subtle, but I didn't want to push it in people's faces, because, as I mentioned in a previous chapter, I suck at it. I did watch Under the Red Hood as they suggested, and it was excellent. It really helped to inspire me while writing the recent Joker dialogue, and I think that I'll most likely incorporate it into the sequel. But more on that later.

On another note, I'm only working four hours this week, and none until next Saturday. Yeah, it kind of sucks because I was hoping to get some cash, but on the other hand, I'll have plenty of time to write for you. I should be able to maintain a two chapter a day pace easily, meaning that the story could come to a close fairly soon. But I'd really rather draw it out a bit, and savour it. I'll try not to stretch it too thin, but I'm going to take it slow for a little while and make it last. Throw in some subplots and whatnot. We'll see how things go. But keep in mind that the stage is just about set for the main phase of the Joker's plan' he just needs a little longer to get ready. Be on the lookout for another chapter tomorrow/ later tonight. Sometime in the next 24 hours, as usual.


	23. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Batman and Wonder Woman returned to the Batcave, exhausted from the night's events. Bruce was particularly tired, and a bit upset. The night hadn't gone at all as he'd planned. He'd hoped that he'd be able to sneak in to the factory, catch the criminals, interrogate them and get some information, and then leave without making a scene. He berated himself for hoping that things would be simple for once; he should have realized that the Joker was involved, and would intervene.

Diana pulled off her mask, and sat in the chair in front of the Bat-Computer. "You do this every night, Bruce?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, as scary as it was, it was still kind of... Fun."

"It gets old fast."

"Even so... I think I might be accompanying you more often in the near future. I'm going to keep an eye on you."

"I can take care of myself."

"All evidence to the contrary. You almost got flattened tonight."

"I would have made it out."

"Of course." Diana said, as she began to pull off the BatGirl costume, revealing her armor underneath. "I still saved your ass, though." She couldn't help adding on. She returned the Batgirl costume to it's original place, attaching a note to Alfred requesting that he tailor it for her. "Either way, I'm coming with you. And there's nothing that you can do about it."

On some level, Bruce knew that she was right. He wouldn't admit it, however. Not even to himself. "It's too dangerous, Diana." He said, collapsing into his chair. "I can't ask you to do that. It wouldn't be right."

Diana smiled, and lightly sat down on his lap. "You don't have to ask, Bruce. As a matter of fact, you don't have a choice. I love you, Bruce, and I know you feel the same. There's no backing out now, no matter how much you want to... Or don't want to. It makes me wonder if you do things just to be hard on yourself. Tell me, Bruce... Why don't you think you deserve to be happy? You've done so much good. But nothing for yourself... Why?"

Bruce didn't have an answer; not that she'd really expect one. She continued to smile at him, at gently kissed him. She then began to leave to go to sleep; he followed her, feeling more confused than he ever had in his life.

In the Watchtower conference room, Superman glared at Batman from across the table. "Is THIS what you call keeping me in the loop?" He said, tossing Batman a newspaper, a bit more forcefully than he'd intended. Batman bent down to pick up the paper from the floor by the wall, and examined it. He saw a blurry picture, depicting him and Diana swinging against the night sky as the escaped the scene of the explosion. '_Just brilliant...'_ He thought to himself, throwing the newspaper down on the table.

The Flash leaned over to look at the paper. "Say what you want, Bats, but you take a great picture." He looked closer. "Hey... What's that?" He pointed at Diana's shadowed form.

"It's nothing." Batman growled.

"No, really, I see something there!" Flash then saw the cation; 'Batgirl Returns?' "_No way."_ He said, smirking.

Superman turned to Diana. "_You're_ helping him with this? I thought that you of all people would understand why it's important to keep him out of the public eye..."

"It was the Joker." Diana responded. "He sent goons into the factory for something. We don't know what; he blew up the building before we could get a good look at it."

"Well why didn't you call for League backup when you realized that the Joker was involved?"

"Because that was about thirty seconds before the building blew."

Superman frowned and turned to Bruce again. "Look. I'm sorry, but we can't just let you run loose. You know very well how dangerous the Joker is. You need to be more careful."

"I am careful." Bruce snarled.

"And I'm sticking with him. That should be good enough." Diana added.

The other four members murmured in agreement; Batman and Wonder Woman were competent on their own; together they were a force to be reckoned with (or better yet, not reckoned with). Superman sighed, realizing that he was outnumbered. "Fine. But I still want updates whenever you find anything, and I still want you to call for backup if you run into the Joker. No rushing headfirst into the situation. We aren't taking any more risks. _Stay out of sight next time._"

Batman stared back at him. "No objections here."

Author's note: Alright, I feel like I have a lot to answer for here. This chapter took a long time, it's short, and very uneventful. Oops. In addition, I just found out that a friend who I'd asked to check my work schedule read it wrong... I've actually got nineteen hours this week. Yikes. None until Thursday, but after that my posting could be very limited for a while. I've got a lot planned from this weekend into early next week. Meaning I may not have a whole day off until next Wednesday. I'll do my best to keep up, but be prepared for a sharp drop until I can really get back into it. I'll take the three remaining days and try to spend a good amount of time writing.

On another note, I really like writing these exchanges between Bruce and Diana. On one hand, Diana can be very nurturing and caring, but on the other hand, she is an Amazon princess, and won't hesitate to put Bruce in his place. It makes for some good banter. Anyway, I think I'll stay up a little bit late and try to get the next chapter up tonight. Don't expect too much from it; it's looking like it's going to be more of the same. I'm sorry if I'm boring you, but there's some stuff that I really want to get out of the way now.


	24. Does the Pain Weigh Out the Pride?

Bruce and Diana returned to the Batcave via the teleporters. Diana shot Bruce a look. "That went well."

"Get ready. We aren't done yet. We're going on patrol tonight."

"Aren't you going to tell Superman?"

"No."

"Okay, then. What are we looking for tonight?"

"We'll know when we find it."

"So you're saying that you don't know what you're looking for."

"Call it intuition. I have a bad feeling. I don't want to miss anything."

"Fine, Bruce. But you aren't going out there without a good reason. No matter what you say, I'm still keeping an eye on you."

"You think you can stop me?"

"Yeah." Diana moved to stand in front of the Batcave's exit, and crouched into a fighting stance."

Bruce looked down at his utility belt. Wonder Woman was the only Justice League member that he wasn't prepared to fight, not for lack of trying. Her lack of exploitable weaknesses had proven difficult to overcome.

Bruce sighed, and stood down. Diana smiled at him. "That's what I thought." She said, standing up straight again. "So... What do you want to do now?"

"Go on patrol."

"Right... Well you're not going to, so you'd best forget it. Why don't we his the town again? You seemed to enjoy yourself last time."

"I need to be out there."

"Why? You're just painting a target on yourself. You have nothing to gain by going out there tonight."

"I have to protect Gotham."

"Isn't that why they have a police department? Why can't you just let them do their jobs?"

"... Gordon needs my help. There are dangerous criminals out there, that the police can't handle."

"You and I both know that that's a huge lie. Gordon doesn't need you right now. He's putting a lot on the line to keep you from being arrested, and you don't need to make his job any harder. The rest of the Justice League can handle any situation that the police can't handle. That is why we formed the League after all."

Bruce knew that she was right, and gave in. He still hadn't given up on the idea of patrolling in the near future, but he realized that he would simply be making trouble for the police by going out.

Diana saw the realization in his eyes, and smiled at him again. "So... Do you want to go out, or just stay in and watch a movie?"

Bruce remained silent, which she took to mean that he didn't want to go out. "Alright, movie it is." Bruce pulled off his cowl, and nodded absentmindedly before walking up the stairs and into the manor. Diana shook her head a little. She'd known that Batman would be a difficult pursuit, but she'd hoped that he would be a bit easier to control once she had a bit of a hold on him. She sighed to herself. "Some things never change, I guess..." She mumbled to herself before following him up the stairs.

By the time she reached the top of the stairs, it seemed that Bruce had comfortably settled back into his Bruce Wayne persona. He was sitting on the couch, patiently waiting for her. When he saw her, he patted the spot on the couch directly next to him, welcoming her to sit down. She was still a bit shocked; no matter how many times she saw him switch between Batman and Bruce Wayne, the change was still hard to absorb.

She sat down next to him, draping an arm over his shoulder. "How do you do it, Bruce? How do you keep Bruce Wayne so far separated from Batman?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."

"I guess I shouldn't expect you too... Batman is just a costume to you, isn't it? You don't understand how it seems to those around you, though. Even I have trouble separating the two sometimes. It's like your two completely different people."

"But... I'm not. I'm just me. Batman and Bruce Wayne." He looked at her pleadingly. "Do you understand?"

Diana looked at him curiously. "I think so. You don't really have two separate personalities... Bruce Wayne and Batman are both the same man... Just two different attitudes. Am I right?"

"As close as anyone's ever been, I guess."

Dina moved closer to him. He was a mystery, alright. But she knew that she'd figure him out eventually. But she couldn't help but wonder when; she wanted to be close to him, but she knew that she needed to truly understand him before she could.

"Diana? Are you alright?"

Diana looked up again, realizing that she'd been lost in thought. "Yes, Bruce. I'm great. Just forget that I asked."

"Alright, then why don't you pick out a movie?"

She nodded, and then stood up to do so. One of the titles on the shelf caught her attention; 'The Mask of Zorro.' She pulled it from it's place on the shelf, noticing that it was still in it's shrink-wrap packaging. "What about this one?"

"Whatever you want is fine with me."

Author's Note: My friends, we're approaching the final stretch. I've done a lot of exploring the characters, and I think I'm satisfied with how I'm portraying them. I'm just about ready to introduce the Joker's final plan.

I don't really have a lot to say about this chapter. I had plans for it... But I kind of forgot them until about halfway through writing this chapter. Oh well, I guess you guys get a free chapter. So that's why this chapter doesn't really have much significance in the story; it's really just an unashamed filler chapter. Don't worry, the next one is going to be the one that gets the story back on track, and moves us on to the last hurdle of the story.


	25. It Never Goes Away

_ Batman stood on a rooftop, watching over the city. He'd received a tipoff from some of his underworld connections, claiming that a small group was planning a heist at a playing card factory in southern Gotham. He didn't expect any trouble; according to his sources, the heist would be a small one, with six men at the most. Soon enough, he saw a small group of men forcing their way into the neighboring building. The man at the front of the group caught his attention; he appeared to be wearing some sort of red, dome-shaped helmet to cover his face, as well as a cape and tuxedo. Batman jumped down from the rooftop, but before he could follow the men into the building, he heard gunshots. He quietly slipped through the door, to find the bodies of most of the group on the floor, riddled by bullets fired by the security guards. He immediately noticed a heavy stench in the air; he looked around to see large tanks. He deduced that the building was some sort of chemical manufacturing plant. He took another quick look at the room, and found the last member of the group, the man in the red mask, running along the rafters near the ceiling. Batman pulled out his grapple gun and aimed it at the ceiling. He fired, and pulled himself to the ceiling, then dropped landing neatly on the rafters in front of the mysterious man. The man screamed in surprise; before Batman could do anything, the man had tripped and fallen over the edge of the beam, and hurdled toward one of the large vats of chemicals. Batman pulled out his Bat-lasso, and tried to throw it after the man, but he was too late. The lasso simply fell into the vat after him. When he pulled it back, the tip had come off, and the end of the cable was frazzled. He realized that there was nothing that he could do, and that he had failed. Suddenly, a horrible, twisted laughter began to echo around the plant. A voice accompanied it; "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" it shouted over and over again, with something of a gleeful edge. Batman fell to his knees, and covered his ears, but he couldn't make the voice go away. He then heard another voice, which started very faintly, but grew louder until he could hear it over the insane laughter._

_ "BRUCE!"_

Bruce's eyes snapped open. He was shaking, and drenched in cold sweat. He looked next to him, and was relieved to see Diana's huge blue eyes staring back at him.

"Are you feeling alright, Bruce? You look awful..."

"I'm fine." Bruce lied.

Diana could clearly see that he was lying. His usual cool composure was gone. As she looked into his eyes, she saw something that she'd never imagined that she'd see there: fear. She rested her head on his chest, and began to stroke his cheek comfortingly. "How about you tell me what you were dreaming about?"

He shook his head firmly. "No. It's not important. Just a bad dream."

Diana sighed. "Bruce, I've known you for years. I know when you're lying. Just tell me about it. Talking will help. Trust me."

Bruce gave in and told her about his dream. He told her about the guilt that he'd felt after the man fell, and how the memory had haunted him for years. He told her about how the man had been driven mad by the damage his body suffered in the vat, and how he'd eventually become the Joker.

When he'd finished, she simply stared at him for a moment. She then placed her head on his chest one again, noticing that his heart was still racing. She hugged him tightly, and tried to console him. "It's okay, Bruce. There's nothing you could have done. It was just an accident."

"I can't afford to make mistakes."

"Nobody can be perfect, Bruce. You just have to accept yourself for what you are. Sometimes, you just have to accept that there are people that you can't save, no matter how hard you try."

Bruce had no answer. On one hand, he knew she was right, but then again, he knew that he couldn't afford to relax, or he would start to get sloppy again. And he couldn't allow the past to repeat itself.

Diana kissed him, and wrapped her arms around him. "Try to relax and go to sleep, Bruce. You'll feel better in the morning."

He nodded slowly, and began to drift off again, knowing that he could sleep peacefully with Diana beside him.

The two slept until noon the next day. Bruce awakened, and yawned silently.

"Good morning."

He sat up, to see Diana, who was already fully dressed. He groaned a little. "Don't tell me you want to go out again..."

She giggled a little. "No, you deserve a break. But I did promise to keep an eye on you. So I figured we could just stay in for the day."

Bruce let out a deep sigh of relief. As much as he loved a good party, and to see Diana happy, he could only take so much before it started to take a toll on him. He began to get dressed, and then sat down on the bed again. As soon as he touched the bed, he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in, Alfred."

Alfred opened the door, and looked in. "Master Wayne, you have a guest."

"Who is it?"

"Ms. Gordon, sir."

"Right, I'll be down in a minute."

"Very well, sir." Alfred said, before leaving.

Bruce and Diana walked down to the main room of the manor. Waiting for them was a young woman of about twenty-five; she had stunning red hair. Diana couldn't help but notice that she was in a wheelchair.

Bruce approached her and leaned down to give her a friendly hug.

"Barbara, it's been a while."

"Too long." Barbara agreed. She noticed Diana, who was standing behind him. "I'm sorry if it's a bad time, Bruce... I can come back later, but I need to talk to you in private..."

"It's okay Barbara. You can trust Diana."

"If you say so. Anyway... It seems that I've been replaced?"

Bruce laughed heartily. "It's something of a funny story. I really didn't have any more say in the matter of her putting on the costume than I did with you."

Barbara looked at Diana for a moment, taking in her features. "You... You're Wonder Woman, aren't you?"

Diana stepped back in shock. "How did you..."

Barbara laughed. "I'm sorry, we haven't met. I'm Barbara Gordon. I was the first Batgirl. You don't have to worry about your disguise, it's really very good. It almost fooled me, and I was trained by the best. Not to mention, I have some inside information." She turned to Bruce. "Congratulations, by the way. I was worried that you wouldn't let anybody get close after what happened to me and Jason."

"Trust me, it wasn't easy." Diana said. "He really didn't want to... So I decided not to give him a choice in the matter." She winked at Barbara, who laughed again.

"That really does sound just like Bruce."

Bruce decided it was time to intervene. "So, not that it isn't nice to catch up, but I'm assuming that you didn't come just to chat."

Barbara's expression suddenly became serious. "No. I heard that the Joker got loose."

Bruce looked at her grimly. "How did you find out?"

"It wasn't easy... My dad tried to make sure that I didn't... But fortunately, I have some connections in the Justice League. But that isn't important. I'm here to tell him that you can't kill him. It's exactly what he wants. Don't play his games, Bruce. You can't let him win. No matter what the cost is."

Bruce nodded. "I don't want to play his games, but you know very well that the Joker doesn't give you a choice. And if he does give you a choice, then it's still part of his game."

"Don't deflect, Bruce. I'm serious. I want you to promise that you won't kill him."

Bruce remained silent for a moment. "I'll do what I have to in order to stop him."

"Fine... But do it because you have to. Not to avenge Jason... Or me."

"I promise, Barbara."

"Good. And please be careful..."

"I will. So... How have you been?"

"I'm doing better. I've been seeing some therapists, and a few doctors. There are some new procedures for regenerating spinal tissues. I've volunteered to be involved in some testing, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high."

"That's great, Barbara."

"I talked to Dick." She gave him a meaningful look. "He won't admit it, but he misses you. Did you hear he split with the Titans?"

"No... That's quite a shame. They were a good team."

"Yeah. He met a nice alien girl. Rally strong... But apparently, he's really taken a leaf out of your book. He's calling himself Nightwing- he's been terrorizing the criminals of Blüdhaven every night. I'm starting to think that the two of you are more similar than either of you would like to believe."

"I knew I did well with him."

Barbara rolled her eyes. "You could say that.

Author's Note: Once again, a lot of setup for future chapters/sequel. I actually like this one though. The only problem is that you need a bit of background to get it. Most of this can be found in _The Killing Joke._ If you have internet access (Hint- you do), and aren't familiar with the story, than I would recommend checking out the story on the Wikipedia page. If you don't want to, here's my crash course: The Joker's origins are very cloudy; Even he doesn't really remember who he was before he became the Joker. What is clear, though, is that he became the Joker after falling in a vat of acid while working for a gang under the guise of 'the Red Hood.' Later, he plans to cause havoc by driving Commissioner Gordon insane. As part of accomplish this, he breaks into the Commissioner's home, and shoots Gordon's daughter, Barbara, through the spine, paralyzing her. The other character that I've referenced but haven't really discussed is Jason Todd; the second Robin. He was brutally murdered by the Joker in the story line entitled _A Death in the Family._ I think that just about covers everything. There'll be another update soon, but not tonight. I've decided to slow down my pace substantially; I'm going to be handling to the plot _very carefully_ as we approach the end of the story. And, while it saddens me to say it, we're getting to that point. I know I've been saying it for a while, but we're really coming close. The next chapter is where the action is going to start up again, so get ready. It's really hard to believe that it's already been 25 chapters; thank you all for the encouragement; this is really a great community, and your encouragement has kept me going.


	26. The Wait

The Joker paced back and forth in his hideout. "Where _is_ he?" He hissed at Two Face, who was standing nearby.

"Batman hasn't been seen in nearly a week. It looks like he's hiding."

"WHAT? Batman doesn't hide!"

"Regardless, we can't find him. And if Deadshot can't find him, that means that he isn't out there."

"Well... If he doesn't want to come out on his own, then I guess we'll just have to flush him out... Spread the word. We're planning a heist."

"What are we going after this time?"

"It doesn't matter. We just need Batman out on the streets again. I'm counting on you to make sure that he hears about it."

Two Face nodded.

"Good." The Joker continued. "Then we move out in three days... Well get on it!"

Two-Face scurried from the room. The Joker's smile widened. He knew that he was so close to everything that he could ever remember wanting.

Batman sat in front of the Bat-computer. He may not be able to go out and take on criminals firsthand, but he could still keep an eye on the city from his cave. As he worked, he heard a quiet click behind him; he didn't turn around. He felt Diana approach from behind him, and begin to massage his shoulders. He stopped typing.

"Not now, Diana. I have work to do."

She sighed. "Not again... Bruce, I told you that you aren't going out there without a good reason. That doesn't mean that you should be looking for one. You know... There are better ways to cure cabin fever than beating the pulp out of criminals."

"That may be true." He said cryptically, before continuing to work.

"Bruce... You need to learn to give yourself a break. You can't be accountable for everything that happens in Gotham City."

"I don't have time for that now. The Joker's on the move again."

Diana's blood ran cold at the mention of the Joker, but she forced herself to remain focused. She narrowed her eyes, and looked at the screen. "Why would he hit there? It's just a bank... We know that he has the Penguin backing him, so he doesn't need to steal cash... It looks like a trap."

"I agree."

"Alright. I'm calling Clark." She said, reaching for the comm link in her ear. Before she could activate it, Bruce Grabbed her arm.

"No."

"But Bruce, you just said that it was probably a trap!"

"And that's exactly why you can't call him. The smaller the operation, the better."

Diana sighed again. She knew that they needed the Joker, and they wouldn't have a chance at getting to him without Batman's cooperation. "Fine. But I'm going with you."

Bruce nodded. "Fine. But I'm calling the shots."

Diana rolled her eyes, but decided that seizing control would do little more than hurt his pride.

"Alright. When is he doing it?"

"Two days."

"Alright. I'll be ready."

Author's Note: Yeah, I know that it's ridiculously short. But you'll understand when you get your hands on the next chapter. Shit's gonna hit the fan. Trust me, I think you guys are going to really like it. It should be up very soon, because I can't wait to get started on it. In the meantime, you'll just have to settle for this. It isn't much, but I hope that you can forgive me. The next few chapters are going to be packed with action, drama, and even a bit of psychological analysis, right up until the end. So this will officially mark the end of a long line of filler chapters (I know I've promised this before, but I _really _mean it this time).


	27. Thunder and Blazes

On the night of the Joker's planned heist, Bruce and Diana headed down to the Batcave to prepare. Diana looked at Bruce pleadingly: "Bruce, I still think that we should call Superman.

Bruce, who was pulling on his boots, didn't even look up as he responded. "I told you, we have to keep the circle small. I'm willing to bet that he's just sending a couple of small time goons with a message to taunt us. But we don't have a choice anyway. We have to spring his trap. I know the Joker, and I can guarantee that he won't make his move unless he thinks he has the advantage. Now get suited up. We have to go."

"Fine, but don't blame me when this backfires." She said as she began to slip into the new Batgirl suit that Alfred had made for her. While it still felt strange to be wearing the Bat-suit, at least it fit properly now. Once they were both ready, they left the Batcave for Gotham's Second National bank. It took all of Diana's self-control not to fly; but she remembered that she was in disguise, and to flaunt her powers would blow her cover, so she settled for the grapple gun that Bruce had equipped her with.

They waited on the flat rooftop next to the bank for several hours. As morning began to approach, Diana wondered if Bruce had been wrong.

"Do you think that you could have gotten a bad tip? It's almost three in the morning... The bank will be open soon..."

"No. We're waiting."

"That's a good boy, Batsy!"

Batman whirled around to see none other than the Joker, Bane, and Mr. Freeze. "I just knew that you would wait up for me! You know, for the world's greatest detective, you sure are gullible. Anyway, as the lady says, it's getting awfully late. Bane, go get her. Freeze can handle Batman.

Freeze raised his cannon and fired before Batman could react. He took the impact of the blast directly in the shoulder. Instantly, his left arm was frozen down to the wrist. However, he still had access to his belt; he pulled out a Batarang, and hurled it in the direction of Mr. Freeze, who dodged it expertly.

Bane pressed the button on his chest, causing his biceps to bulge visibly. He roared and jumped towards Diana. She was a little bit caught off guard, but she managed to get a good punch in, sending him flying. He landed roughly on his back, and laughed as he stood up. He pushed the button again, to increase his strength even further. He sniggered from behind his mask as he continued to grow. He launched himself at her again. She tried to punch, but her blows had no effect on him; it felt like punching reinforced steel. He ignored her punches, and managed to land a solid kick to the side of her head. She staggered, but quickly readjusted herself into a fighting stance.

Bane laughed. "You have some spirit! But we'll see how it holds up." He launched another barrage of vicious punches and kicks; Diana parried as many as she could, but even her indestructible bracelets couldn't hold off his mighty blows for very long. Eventually, he managed to break through her guard, and began to attack her face and torso directly. Soon, she could take not more, and fell to the ground unconscious.

Meanwhile, Batman continued to try to fight off Mr. Freeze. He was ill-equipped to fight him- he had expected a small group of small-time thieves, and had stocked his belt as such. Mr. Freeze had already proven that he could avoid Batarangs easily enough, so Batman decided that it would be wise to save them and try a different approach. He reached to his belt and grabbed a bat-lasso. He threw it, but no avail. Freeze simply raised his freeze-ray, and fired. He hit the lasso, dead on. As it approached him, he grabbed it, shattering it. Batman realized that he was running out of options; he was about to reach for a small pack of smoke bombs, when the Joker intervened.

"That's quite enough, Batsy." Batman and Mr. Freeze both stood down for the moment.

Batman glared at the Joker. What the hell is going on?"

The Joker looked back at him innocently. "Oh, nothing, just a little game that I've been working on." He pointed over at Bane. The hulking villain was holding Diana, her arms in one hand, and her legs in the other. He had her bent backwards over his knee, so that with a bit of pressure, he could snap her spine in half.

Batman's rage flared up. "If you hurt her, then God help me-"

The Joker cut him off with a burst of terrible laughter, the same laughter that haunted Batman's nightmares. "You'll what? You aren't in a position to bargain here, Batsy! Now... To see who's behind the mask..."

The Joker approached Diana, and carefully pulled off her mask. When he saw Diana's face, he squealed with an almost childlike delight.

"I knew it was her! I just knew it!"

Batman stepped forward again. "PUT HER DOWN!" He growled.

"Oh, shut up Batsy. I'm not here for her anyway. As a matter of fact... We're here for _you._ So... For her sake, I'd suggest that you come quietly. Or you could try me, and see what happens, I guess. It's all fine with me, you know.

Batman growled, but realized that he had no choice but to comply. He pulled his arms back into his cloak.

The Joker laughed again. "That's what I thought. Freeze?"

Mr. Freeze lifted his cannon, and pointed it at Batman. He pulled the trigger, leaving Batman completely encased in ice.

The Joker cackled widely; knowing that his plans were so close to coming to fruition made him feel even more ecstatic than usual. "Bane, drop her."

"What?" Bane asked in shock; he'd clearly been looking forward to killing her.

"You heard me, brute. Leave her. We aren't done with her yet."

Bane reluctantly dropped Diana with a heavy thud.

"That's a good boy... Now. Where could Sinestro be? Ah, I see him... Fashionably late, of course."

Sinestro landed gently on the rooftop. Without a word, he used his power ring to create an aura around himself, the Joker, Bane, Mr. Freeze, and the frozen Batman, and began to carry them back to the hideout.

Author's Note: THERE WE GO! I told you things were going to get messy, and things are only going to get much _much_ before they get any better. Anyway, sorry if this scheme is a bit difficult to follow, but I figured that I'm working with the Joker, so I might as well make the plan as twisted and complicated as possible. The next update should be very soon; I'm really getting into this again.


	28. The Plan Unfolds

Author's Note: Not much to say here, but keep what I said in the last chapter in mind: things are going to get very messy.

Diana awakened in completely unfamiliar surroundings. The first thing that she noticed was that she was in agonizing pain; she felt as if every inch of her flesh had been bruised. She cringed as memories of the previous night flowed back to her. She could remember being attacked by a huge man wearing a strange mask, but nothing after that. She gingerly sat up to get a better look at her surroundings. She gathered that she was on a couch in somebody's living room; she couldn't help but notice that the coffee table in front of the couch was littered with various wildlife magazines. Realizing that she needed to find some answers, she stood up to look around, wincing slightly as her aching muscles protested.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Diana whirled around to see who had spoken; it was a tall woman, wearing a remarkably tight catsuit. The mystery woman pulled of her mask, revealing her long, blond hair.

"I don't believe we've met... Most people call me Catwoman, but since you're a friend of Batman, I guess you can call me Selina. Don't worry, I'm a friend."

Diana relaxed a little bit. "How did I get here? What happened."

Selina shrugged. "Damned if I know. I just found you unconscious on a rooftop. And you're lucky that I did. If the police had found you, I can guarantee that you'd be locked in an interrogation room right now."

Diana's mind reeled for a moment. "Then... Where's Br- Batman?"

"He wasn't there. I just assumed that you were flying solo."

Diana's blood went cold. She knew that Bruce wouldn't just leave her on the rooftop; the only conclusion was that the Joker had him.

Suddenly Diana's comm link crackled to life. She wondered where the signal was coming from; it couldn't be the Watchtower, as there was far too much static. Her question was answered as soon as the voice on the other end spoke, confirming her worst fears.

"OOH! OOH! I know where Batsy is!"

Diana's eyes narrowed, and her teeth bared when she heard the voice of the Joker.

"_Where is he?"_ She said, putting as much venom into her voice as she could.

"Keep your tights on, I'm going to tell you... But first, I must say... You really should secure these lines. You wouldn't want some nut bursting in on all your private conversations, now, would you?" The Joker let out a cackle. "But... Since you're new to the game, I'd better tell you all of the rules before we get started. I'll tell you where I'm hiding... But you'd best come alone. You see, I'm really not prepared for extra house guests... So take note that if you do bring any uninvited guests, then I'll have no choice but to exterminate them... Not to mention old Batsy. Kapeesh? Well... I guess that about covers everything." He proceeded to give Diana the coordinates of his hideout. "Now... Be there or be square! But be fast... I'm not the most patient man in the world!" He let out a monstrous laugh, and cut the connection.

Diana took a moment to weigh her options. She knew that it would be good to have backup, but she was sure that the Joker wouldn't hesitate to make good on his promise to kill Batman, as well as any other intruders. She sighed, realizing that she had no choice but to go in alone.

She turned to Selina and bowed her head a little bit. "Thank you for your hospitality. But I have business to attend to."

Selina raised an eye. "Now? You're in pretty rough shape... Are you sure that you couldn't use some help?"

"I'll be fine. I'm a fast healer. Thank you for the offer, but I have to do this alone."

Without any further explanation, Diana began to levitate, and flew out an open window. Selina watched her for a moment, before whistling quietly. A tiny black cat poked it's head around the doorway, and jumped into her arms.

"Come on, Isis." Selina said, pulling her cowl back over her face. "I think that we should get to the bottom of this..."

She jumped out of the window, and began to stealthily follow Diana.

Author's note: GASP! What fiendish plot is the Joker cooking up now? Will Diana be able to make it in time? Will Catwoman be able to help her? Tune in tomorrow to find out: same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel!

I know I've used that joke before, but I like it. Anyway, maybe I don't have the end of the story planned out as well as I thought. I'd had a pretty solid idea of what was going to happen... But I decided to change it up a bit. The general idea is still the same, but I did implement some changes that should make the story go that much more smoothly.

It may be a while before I get the chance to post again; I've got a lot on my plate up until next Wednesday. I'll do my best to keep up, but I'm most likely going to have to slow down substantially.


	29. An Immovable Object

Author's Note: I'm predicting that there will be about five more chapters left, and the climax is coming up fast, so get ready. Just a side note for carlitos1025: don't lose faith in Batman. It's true that he always has a plan, but he also doesn't play his hand until he's sure that he can win. Remember, the Joker is completely unpredictable, which is in my opinion a good part of the reason that he's such a good foil for Batman. While Batman may be a master strategist, the Joker specializes in neutralizing those very strategies and turning them around (especially the Dark Knight version, which is the one I've been basing off of, as you'll see very clearly in this chapter). But don't count Batman out yet; he's still got some tricks up his sleeve... But you'll see what I mean soon enough. Anyway, I appreciate the feedback, and I'll do my best to use it to make the story better.

Batman groggily opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he was in some sort of prison cell, with his ankles and wrists attached to the wall by a length of chain. The second was the Joker standing directly outside of his cell, staring at him through the bars.

"Wakey, wakey, Batsy, my boy!"

Batman fully opened his eyes to take a closer look at his surroundings. The cell was rather large, although he had very limited access to the space, due to the limited slack of the chains. He looked up at the Joker, who was standing in front of what appeared to be some sort of projector screen.

"Well, you're finally up! I thought you'd sleep all day!"

Batman remained silent, and continued to glare at the Joker. When Batman didn't respond, the Joker's smile faded a little. "Sheesh... Tough crowd."

Batman finally spoke; his voice was hoarse from being kept frozen for hours on end, although this did more to add to his already intimidating appearance. "What do you want?"

The Joker laughed. "Well, Batsy... I doubt that you'd believe me if I told you. So... I guess a bit of background is in order." He cleared his throat. "You see, Batsy... It all began when I invited your dear girlfriend over for a cup of tea... And I figured that while she was here, I might as well do a bit of..." He grinned fiendishly. "... Poking around."

Batman lost his composure; a horrified look slipped onto his face.

Upon seeing his expression, the Joker laughed. "Not there, you filthy Bat-pervert!" He pointed forcefully at his forehead. "Up here."

This did little to reassure Batman, but he forced himself to pull out his poker face again. He waited for the Joker to continue.

Instead of continuing to speak, the Joker stepped aside, giving Batman a clear view of the projector screen. The Joker reached into his pocket, and pulled out a remote control. He pushed a button, and the screen flickered to life. A countdown appeared on the screen before a film began to play.

Batman watched in silent horror as a picture appeared on the screen. It showed Wonder Woman, strapped to some kind of operating table by thick leather harnesses. Her eyes were shut, and her hair was strewn all over her face. She opened her eyes and began to struggle for a moment, but stopped immediately as a black-gloved hand appeared and covered her mouth and nose with a rag. The Joker appeared on the screen, garbed in a surgeon's coat, complete with gloves and a mask. At this moment, the real Joker paused the film, and stepped into Batman's view once more.

"You see, Batsy... I've spent a good portion of my life in an asylum." His eyes narrowed for a moment. "No thanks to you... But anyway, I learned quite a bit about the mind, as one is bound to when living in a nuthouse. One procedure in particular caught my attention... I trust that you're familiar with the 'transorbital,' or 'ice pick' lobotomy?

Batman felt pure terror rush through his mind, but he forced himself to remain stone-faced.

The Joker grinned widely before continuing. "Well... On the off-chance that you aren't, I guess that I'd better explain. Or..." An evil glint came to his eye. "I could show you..." He lifted the remote, and the film began to play again.

Batman watched, horrified, as the Joker onscreen reached into his pocket, and pulled out a large hammer and a nail that appeared to have some sort of computer chip on the end. He waved at the camera, before turning to Wonder Woman. He carefully lifted her eyelid, placing the nail just above the eye. Batman flinched slightly as the Joker tapped at the end of the nail, driving it into her skull. He pulled the nail out of her eye and waved it at the camera; the chip was now gone. He waved at the camera one more time before the screen went blank.

The Joker stepped in front of the screen once more, looking at Batman expectantly. "So... Whaddaya think? Don't be too harsh, I worked _really hard_ to put all of this together for you."

Batman took a moment to absorb the mortifying vision that he's just seen. Finally, he managed to pull himself together once more. "You're a madman..."

"And you're dressed like a giant bat. You know... We aren't so different, you and I..."

"We're night and day."

"That may be true. But are night and day really that different? Sure, they're opposites... But all that it would take to turn night into day is a tiny little it of light. And that's what I plan to do... I'm going to turn night into day."

Batman stared at him, for a moment trying to make sense of his cryptic speech. The Joker saw the confusion in his face, and began to elaborate. "I'm sure you saw that little chip that I left in your girlfriend's head? That was developed by a good buddy of mine... A Mr. Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, and streamlined by my bestest pal Lex Luthor. You see, that chip was designed to allow me to take control of Wonder Woman's mind at any time. Unfortunately, you had to step in and ruin my plans to obtain the transmitter that it needs for long-range use. However, I've since come up with a better idea. I realized that you would be keeping a close eye on any of the remaining transmitters, which would make it _very_ difficult to track one down. But then..." He raised his hand dramatically; "Inspiration struck!" I thought to myself... Why don't I just bring her here?"

Batman's jaw dropped. He knew that the Joker had been planning something big... But this was more disgusting than anything that he could have imagined, even from the Joker.

"That's right, Batsy... As we speak, she's zooming towards us... And as soon as she gets in range, I'll be able to take complete control of her, and have her do anything that I want. Right now, I'm thinking that I'm going to have her stand right here," He pointed at the floor directly below him; "and have her pull her own head off."

He looked around himself. "Then again, maybe this would be a better spot..." He said, examining the floor. "This one's kind of nice too... Oh well, I guess I haven't got everything worked out... But no need to worry, there's still time to work out all the important little details. The laugh that followed this statement was the most sinister one that he'd ever heard from the Joker. "But... Are you listening? I"m going to give you a chance to make sure that none of this ever happens. However... This kind of opportunity doesn't come cheap. You're going to have to make a little sacrifice."

He reached into his overcoat and pulled out a pistol. He held it by the barrel, and pushed it through the bars, so Batman could reach the handle.

"You see... If you want to stop me... Then you're going to have to kill me. You're going to have to cross that line. So... Do you have the grapes?"

He laughed maniacally. Batman stared at the gun. He slowly reached out to take it. He thought of all the people that the Joker had harmed. He thought about his own adopted son Jason, who the Joker had murdered for the fun of it. He thought about Barbara Gordon, who had been crippled and abused in one of the Joker's mad plots. Finally, he thought about Diana. It would be so easy to pull the trigger and make sure that she wouldn't be hurt... That the Joker would never hurt anybody ever again. Batman took the gun and stared at if for a moment before throwing it to the ground.

"I won't turn into you." He growled.

"That's what I thought. But... We'll see how you think after this whole ordeal is finished. I'm betting that you won't think very well at all... Do you ever realize how weak you really are? Just an example... When I had you shot... All it took was a few drops of a mind-altering toxin to send you over the edge and turn you into me. Just think about what this could do. Anyway, I'm really doing you a favor. You saw how quickly those people turned on you. Why should you bother to protect them? The human will is _so_ flimsy... That's what you need to see. And then... The game can really start. That's what this game has been missing for all these years. You don't think it's a game. You think that this is serious. Well I'm gonna change that. There's no need to take life so seriously... Nobody gets out alive, anyway!" He cackled and snapped his fingers. The chains that held Batman retracted into the wall, pulling him back and severely restricting his movement. The Joker strolled away, his mad laughter echoing through the hallways.

Author's Note: I've been waiting a very long time to write this chapter. I think it really gets the point that I'm trying to make across; I even felt a few chills while I was writing it (Leave me some feedback if you think that I should bump up the rating, just for some extreme fucked-upness). For those of you who haven't heard of the ice-pick lobotomy, it was a procedure that was very popular (even common) around the 1940's. It was typically used to scrape the frontal lobe of the brain to radically alter personalities. However, I hypothesized that it could be used to implant a chip directly into the brain. The procedure was very fast (about ten minutes), and left little trace, meaning that even a great detective such as Batman wouldn't notice, especially when you consider that the Joker tortured her to cover his real plans. The funny thing is that I thought of this idea _after_ I put the little bit with Diana on the operating table way back in chapter eleven. Funny how things work out, isn't it? Anyway, I think that I'm happy with how this turned out, and where it's leading. I just had to get this chapter up before tomorrow; as I mentioned, I have a really busy week coming up. Four long work days (by part-timer standards anyway), and a concert. Like I said, I'll try to keep posting, but the chapters may be few and far between. Still, watch out for them. Please give me some feedback; I think this chapter turned out great, but I feel that it's just as important to know how you feel. So, once again, thanks for reading, and I'm out.


	30. Carnival of Sins

Author's Note: I have a feeling this chapter could be short, but I got lucky and got tomorrow off from work so I'll be able to write. Anyway, there's going to a small break in the action before it picks up next chapter. Anyway... I hope that I don't come off as begging for reviews, but I'm dying to know how you guys feel about the last chapter. In my opinion, it's the centerpiece of the story, and I want to make sure that it was done well. So... Once again, please tell me what you think of it. It would mean a lot- negative feedback is still feedback that can be used to better the story, so don't hold back.

Diana flew as fast as she could in the direction that the Joker had indicated. She felt fury like she never had before flowing through her, pushing her onwards. As she flew over Wayne Manor, she paused momentarily. She quickly pulled off the Batgirl suit to reveal her Wonder Woman armor; the time for subtlety was over. She threw the suit down on the lawn, sure that Alfred would pick it up before anybody noticed. Of course, she was wrong.

Catwoman followed Diana on her motorcycle at a distance using the tracking device she had planted on her as she slept. Numerous encounters with Batman had taught her how to deal with him and his various associates. It surprised her to find out that Batgirl could fly; her interest was piqued further when Batgirl flew over Wayne Manor. Catwoman saw Wonder Woman hover for a moment, before pulling of the batsuit to reveal Wonder Woman. "No... It couldn't be..."

Her suspicions were confirmed when Wonder Woman tossed the suit onto the grounds of the manor. "Hm... This certainly is getting interesting..." Catwoman said, stroking Isis behind the ears. "I think that we should keep on her tail for a bit longer. Something's going on here."

Diana looked down at the building that the Joker had claimed to be using as a hideout. It was a complete departure from the Joker's usual style. Instead of bright, flamboyant colors, the building was garbed entirely in grey, it's concrete walls stained black in many places. She observed the building carefully; all of the entrances were heavily guarded by the Joker's guards. She paused in midair, trying to find a way in.

The guards didn't prove to be anywhere as much of a problem for Catwoman; being the world's most accomplished cat burglar, she managed to sneak past them almost effortlessly. Once inside, she saw that she was in a long corridor with stone walls, lit by torches. The path ahead forked many times; she followed her instinct when choosing a path, although she was sure to keep track of the turns she'd taken. Finally, she ended up in what appeared to be a cell block. She noticed that most of the cells were empty. The first occupied cell that she found contained Lex Luthor; she'd only seen him on television, but she could barely recognize him. He looked like he'd been starved, and he was huddled on the floor, clutching his leg. Catwoman decided that it wouldn't be worth exposing herself to help this piece of trash she moved on. She checked every cell, until she came to the last one. About to give up hope, she looked in. At first, the cell appeared to be empty, although on second glance, she saw a shadowed figure in the back of the cell.

"... Batman?" She whispered as quietly as she could.

The figure looked up, revealing that he was indeed Batman. He'd been hard at work attempting to pick the locks that held him against the wall. "Catwoman? How the hell did you get here?"

"I followed your girlfriend... Not very subtle, that one." Catwoman replied, casual as ever.

"... She's here?"

Catwoman nodded. "I'm not sure what's taking her..." A crash resounded through the base. "Ah. There she is. Not very subtle at all."

"I need a lock pick."

"Don't you have one?"

"They took it."

"What about the backup?"

"That too."

"What about-"

"THEY TOOK THEM ALL. Now just give me the damn pick."

"Talk about gratitude issues..." Catwoman grumbled as she opened the door to his cell and placed the tool in his hand. "Anything else you can trouble me for?"

"Leave the door open a crack when you leave. You have to go find the Mad Hatter. The Joker has a mind control device planted on Diana, which he could have already activated. He's probably bringing her down here right now. I can hold her off, but I don't know how long. Go quickly."

Catwoman gave him a small salute before turning to leave. "See you around... Bruce."

Batman's eyes widened momentarily. He concealed his surprise quickly, but not before Catwoman saw it.

"Unbelievable. You know, I almost suspected it for a little while, but I wrote you off. I'll never make that mistake again."

Batman glared. He wasn't quite sure what to do. On one hand, Selina had proven herself to be a valuable ally... But she had been a deadly enemy just as may times. He decided that his only option would be to trust her now, and try to remember not to get on her bad side to often in the future.

"Go. There's no time to lose."

With another quick salute, Catwoman vanished into the shadows.

Author's note: In case you haven't noticed, I'm basing my portrayal of Catwoman on the version presented in the first three seasons, where just about everybody knows her secret identity, as opposed to the fourth season, in which it would seem that everybody in Gotham forgot it. Why, you may ask? Because if they aren't going to even try to follow their own continuity, then I'm sure as hell not going to. Anyway, the next chapter will be up very soon; I managed to put off a long shift at work tomorrow, so keep an eye out for a chapter, or two if I'm feeling particularly motivated.


	31. Psycho Circus

Author's Note: **IT'S A TRAP!**

Wonder Woman stealthily searched around the outside of the base for an unguarded entrance. It seemed that each entrance was being guarded by some of the toughest characters the Joker had been able to find; entering from the south would require her to take on both Clayface and Bizarro, while the northern entrance was covered by Bane, Sinestro, and Poison Ivy. While she was confident that she would be able to get through the southern guards, she wasn't sure that she had the time, and she knew that she would be doomed if the guards from the entrance joined the fight.

Realizing that she had no choice, she flew high in the air. She closed her eyes, and braced for impact as she rushed towards the center roof of the building, feet first.

_**BOOM**_

__With a mighty crash, she hurtled through the roof of the building, landing roughly on the floor. When she stood up to dust herself off, she was met with a rather startling sight; the Joker was in the room, sitting on an ornate throne, holding a book and wearing a pair of oversized reading glasses. He looked up at her, and checked his watch.

"Oh, good. You're here." He looked up at the ceiling and frowned a little. "I trust that you're planning on fixing that, right?"

"Where's Batman."

"He's here."

Wonder Woman was in no mood for games. She flew towards him at breakneck speed, and lifted him by the collar of his purple coat. "Tell me now. While you can still talk."

"Sheesh, everybody thinks that they can pull of the Batman attitude these days... Anyway, come along." He pulled himself from her grasp, and proceeded down the hallway attached to the room. Diana followed him cautiously; she knew that no matter how benign he seemed, he was still a sociopathic sadist who couldn't be trusted under any circumstances.

Soon, they came to the door at the end of the corridor. The Joker opened it, grinning widely. He bowed slightly, gesturing for her enter. Wonder Woman peeked around the door. Batman wasn't here; instead she saw a rather short man with an oversized top hat sitting in front of a large computer monitor. He raised a hand to wave at her, before pushing a button on his keyboard. Wonder Woman turned to confront the Joker.

"What's going on h-"

Suddenly, Diana felt her mind go blank. She felt her free will being forcibly separated from her body, and pushed to the back of her mind. Her muscles relaxed, and she realized that she had no control over them.''

The Joker smiled victoriously. "Now that you've met my friend, let's go visit old Batsy. He's been just _dying_ to see you... And I'll see to it that he gets his wish! Now let's go, we haven't got all day, here."

He began to march away. Diana realized that she was following him. She tried to stop, but she couldn't muster up the energy to control herself.

Batman looked up when he heard footsteps outside of his cell. His mind raced as he prepared himself. To his dread, he found that the source of the footsteps was the Joker, who was followed shortly by Wonder Woman. All of the emotion that was usually plainly visible on her face was gone. Not even her eyes, which were usually filled with energy and vigor had deadened. She stared back at him, displaying the same slightly bemused expression.

The Joker grinned at him through the bars of the cage. "Well you see, Bats-"

He was interrupted as Batman undid the locks that held him at lightning speed, and barreled at the door of the cell, throwing it open. The door smashed into the Joker's head at full force, sending him flying. He landed against the wall, with his eyes closed. He coughed weakly for a moment, before cackling gleefully. "Oh, Batsy! You'd think that after all of these years, I'd have learned not too underestimate you. But I like this better! We can make sure that I never underestimate you again! I propose a fight to the death! Can you imagine the fun? Then I'll kill the winner! You know... You may be tough, Batsy, but I don't favor your odds here!" He stood up, and patted Wonder Woman on the shoulder. "Go get 'im, Tiger!"

Without a word, Wonder Woman charged at Batman, fists extended. He just barely managed to dodge, leaving her to crash through the was of the cell. He knew that this was winding up to be the toughest fistfight of his life. He was no amateur to melee combat, but his lack of super-strength and his missing utility belt put him at a definite disadvantage. He ran over calculations in his mind; he knew that he could fight defensively for a time, but if Catwoman wasn't able to find a way to stop the Joker's signal, he would have to take up the offensive. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to; Wonder Woman was the one member of the Justice League that he wasn't sure that he could take on. Her lack of exploitable weaknesses and considerable strength made her a force to be reckoned with. He scanned the immediate area for anything that could be used to his advantage, until something caught his attention.

_'That just might work...'It's a long shot... But it's all I've got.'_

He lowered himself into a fighting stance, and prepared himself to dodge as she stood and charged again.

Author's Note: Alright, you didn't get the showdown that I promised in the last chapter, but you got the setup for the showdown. That's just as good, right? I'll post again as soon as I can.


	32. Paint a New World

Author's Note: The big showdown is here! I hate to interrupt the story with my ramblings, so I'll try to make it quick. As you may have noticed by now, I have been borrowing _a lot_ of song lyrics/titles for chapter titles. This is not just laziness on my part (I mean it is laziness, but there's a bit more than just that). I've been arranging the titles/lyrics in a way that if you compile the songs, you would have a sort of 'soundtrack' for the story. Neat, right? No? Well screw you. If anybody's interested, send me a message and I can get you a complete list of songs, artists, and albums (some of the lyrics might be difficult to trace). But back to the story. This could get complicated, as the last chapter and most likely the following ones will all be happening in a matter of minutes, and will include a few different vantage points. I will attempt to keep things simple, and avoid first person. I'll do my best to avoid any inaccuracies with time, too. Anyway... Still waiting on feedback on chapter 29. Sigh... You make an old man weep. I'm not an old man, but I'm sure that if I was, I'd be weeping. So... Yeah. Just for the record, it might sound more natural if you imagine the Joker lines in the Heath Ledger voice, because that's what I was imagining in my head when I wrote it.

Wonder Woman charged again, nearly crushing Batman in the process. He just barely managed to duck out of the way before she smashed into the wall. Like the first time, she stood up instantly and prepared to take again. Batman realized that in her current state, she would be invulnerable to pain, and this worried him. He knew very well that pain is an indicator of trauma, and while it can be a hinderance in battle, it is an important part of knowing when to stop fighting. Diana possessed immense strength, but she was no Superman. She could still be injured in battle, and such an outcome was likely if she continued to crash into walls at this rate.

Batman came the conclusion that he needed a wider space to work with. He ran down the hallway, hoping that it wouldn't come to a dead end. He heard the Joker's mad laughter echoing behind him.

"What's the matter? Has the big bad Bat gone Chicken?"

Batman ignored him and continued to run, making sure to dodge Wonder Woman's attacks. He finally made it to the end of the hallway, and pushed through the door. He found himself in the Joker's throne room. He took a second to take in his new surroundings; the room was rather large, and completely empty, with the exception of a large throne, and a skeleton wearing a torn green suit. Batman recognized the suit as the one worn by the Riddler. He ran to the body, and grabbed the Riddler's trademark cane, hoping that it would be able to help him even the odds a little bit. _'Where the hell is Selina?'_ He thought to himself.

Catwoman quietly slunk around the Joker's base. Her years of experience had taught her patience, but she knew that time was running out fast; she could hear crashes echoing around the base. Eventually, she came to the end of a long hallway. She quietly pushed the door open, and crept in.

Jervis Tetch sat at his desk, waiting for orders from the Joker. The plan was almost complete; with Wonder Woman under his control, it was only a matter of time until the Batman was eliminated. He was musing the schemes he'd be able to pull off without the Bat to stop him, when he heard the door creak behind him. He whirled around in his chair, but saw no one.

"WHO'S THERE?" He shouted.

Suddenly, a pair of eyes appeared in the shadows, followed by a wide grin.

"Oh my..." He said to himself before slumping over and passing out. Catwoman stepped out of the shadows.

"Hm. Damn." She purred, kicking the Mad Hatter's unconscious form to see if he'd awaken. This wasn't exactly the reaction she'd been hoping for. She'd hoped that she would be able to scare him into explaining how the device worked. However, the odds of getting any information from him at this point seemed rather slim.

"Oh well... I guess I'll just have to wing it." She took a close look at the computer-like device that he'd been sitting in front of. "This looks important." She said, examining what appeared to be some sort of motherboard. She punched through the frame, and pulled out a clump of wires.

"I hope that did the trick..." She said, as she watched the device's lights flicker, and then die.

Wonder Woman quickly followed Batman into the Joker's throne room, and charged at him once again. Batman readied himself one more time. As she approached, he rolled onto his back, and kicked into the air, striking her on her shoulders.

The blow wasn't forceful enough to cause serious damage, but it did succeed in knocking her off balance. As she flew upwards, he kicked himself into a standing position once more. He reached out with the Riddler's cane, and managed to wrap the question mark at the tip around the lasso that hung by her waist. He pulled it free, and dropped the cane, opting to use the lasso instead. He swung it overhead, and waited for her to charge.

Fortunately, her loss of free will had all but eliminated her usually sharp instincts, and she took his bait. As she launched herself at him, he sidestepped, and threw the lasso; it tightened around her ankles. Batman yanked hard, sending her crashing to the floor. He quickly jumped on top of her, and tied the lasso around her wrists as well, leaving her immobile. He heard a slow clapping behind him; when he turned around, he saw the Joker, standing in the doorway.

"That was quite impressive, Batsy! A jolly good show, as always... But it's time for it to end. I did say a battle to the death, did I not? As a matter of fact, you would be doing her a favor by killing her... I'm sure that you would be a much more compassion executioner that yours truly..."

"Never."

"Whatever you say, Batsy!"

The Joker pulled a gun out of his jacket, and began firing at Batman. Batman just barely managed to jump out of the way before being hit. However, the Joker had foreseen his move, and took the opportunity to leap at Diana. When Batman stood up, he saw the Joker sitting on Diana's back, sliding his knife into her mouth. Batman stood down, while the Joker began to laugh.

"I told you that you should have done the job when you had the chance. Now look at the situation... What a mess!"

Diana suddenly felt the fog that had been clouding his mind begin to lift. She realized that she could control her motions, although they were restricted by her lasso. She felt a cold surface pressing against the edge of her lip. She looked down and saw a white gloved hand holding a knife in her mouth.

Batman saw fear and confusion appearing in her eyes, and knew that Catwoman had succeeded in her mission, although it appeared to be just a bit too late. The Joker's laughter once again cut through the momentary silence.

"Well aren't we just full of surprises! It looks like the Hatter backed out on me and shut down the mind control device... Which means that I'll have some pretty angry brainwashed henchmen coming pretty soon. But not to worry, there still plenty of ti-"

His words were cut off as a thick black cord wrapped around his neck. Catwoman stepped out of the shadows behind him, holding her trademark whip.

"Looks like I made it just in time." She forcefully yanked on her whip, causing the Joker to fall to the floor. He wheezed for a moment to catch his breath. Finally, he mustered up the energy to speak.

"Well... You know what they say..." He said weakly. "If you can't join 'em, beat 'em!" He pulled another gun out of his pocket, and began to fire at random around the room. Batman jumped on top of Wonder Woman; his thick body armor managed to protect them from most of the Joker's shots. Catwoman, however, wasn't so lucky. She took a shot to the thigh, causing her to drop her whip and fall to the floor in agony.

Batman knew that his window of opportunity would be small one; he noticed the Riddler's cane on the floor, and picked it up. He took aim, and threw it like a javelin, hitting the Joker, and knocking him momentarily unconscious. Batman looked at the Joker's throne, and saw his utility belt draped over the top. He went over to it, and put it on. He quickly untied Diana, and then gave her a moment to rub her wrists and gather her thoughts while he dressed Catwoman's wounds with the small emergency first aid kit that he always carried in his belt. There didn't appear to be too much damage; it seemed that the bullet had just grazed the inside of her thigh. He dressed the wound with a little bit of gauze.

He then activated the communicator in the ear of his cowl.

"Bruce? Is that you?" Superman's concerned voice answered the call.

"It's me."

"Where are you?"

"Track the location of the comm link. We've got the Joker. Get here fast."

"I'm on it. We'll have a squad down there soon."

"Make it a big one. He has a big team. Some them were hypnotized, but I don't know which ones."

"Got it. Can you wait ten minutes?"

"Make it five."

Batman terminated the link, and went to take care of the Joker, who was beginning to come to. Batman approached him and lifted him by the collar of his jacket.

"What are you going to do, Batsy? I'll tell you... Nothing. There's nothing you can do. You can lock me away, throw away the key, and try anything else you want. But it won't get you anywhere. I'll take some time to recover, and I'll be out as soon as I want. Sure, I'll be awful bored for a little while, but I'll be back. It's about time you faced the music, Batsy. If you ever want me out of your hair, you'll have to kill me. I was just trying to help you earlier... I assumed that all you needed was some good, old fashioned motivation... But you... You are really something else, aren't you? But don't worry, I'll find a way to liberate you one of these days... Just you wait."

He groaned a little, before starting to laugh wildly. Having heard enough, Batman hurled him at the wall, where he slumped to the floor, unconscious. His laughter slowly faded into quiet breathing.

Batman felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Wonder Woman.

"You don't need to be here. Let's go." She led him from the room, helping Catwoman to stand on the way. The three of them slowly made their way to the exit of the base. On the way out, they passed Superman, who stopped Batman.

"We'll talk about all of this later You can leave; the Javelin will be here soon. But make no mistake, we _will _talk about this."

Batman didn't answer; he nodded in acknowledgement, and continued to walk. The Javelin landed soon, and the three exhausted heroes stepped on. Batman set the autopilot coordinates for the watchtower, and then went to the back of the ship where he collapsed on one of the beds in exhaustion.

Author's Note: We're almost at the end here. This story arc is basically finished; now I just have a bit of setup left to d for the sequel. I'm really excited to get going on that, but I'll be sure to finish this project first. I'm predicting that there will only be one more chapter; I'd say two at the most. So sit tight, I'll have them up soon. Just for the record, the events of this chapter were intended to span over two chapters, but I was on a roll, and couldn't find a place to split it, so I decided to do it all at once.


	33. Another Turning Point

Author's Note: So... This may end up being the last chapter of the story. I know it's sad, but take solace in the fact that I already have plans for a sequel. Big plans. I think I'm going to try to split the end of the story into two much shorter pieces. But I guess that we'll just have to see how it turns out. Just warning; if I succeed, then these chapters may end up being very short, at only a page or two. But like I said, we'll see.

J'onn J'onzz, Green Lantern, the Flash, Shayera Hol, and Superman sat around the table in the Justice League conference room. J'onn was speaking.

"Like I said earlier, we managed to round up almost all of the Joker's associates, and the rest are being tracked down. The Joker has been placed back in Arkham Asylum, where we have been promised that he will be kept under tight security. Needless to say, we shall be keeping a close watch on the building, to make sure that this situation does not arise again. Rest assured that the Joker will be unable to escape."

Just then, the door slid open, and Wonder Woman entered. J'onn shot her a quizzical look.

"You are late. This is most uncharacteristic."

"Sorry. I had some... Problems."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm great."

"Where is Batman?"

Wonder Woman looked around, a little bit uncomfortably. "I don't think that he's coming."

"Why not?"

Wonder Woman shifted again. "I was getting to that. I hate to say it... But I'm here to tell you that I'm going to have to temporarily step down from the Justice League. You see... I'm..." She struggled to find the words. "I'm pregnant."

Her statement received a wide variety of reactions; the Flash toppled out of his chair, the Green Lantern spat out his coffee, Shayera just shot her a confused look, and Superman accidentally gripped the edge of the table, crushing it. Even the usually stone-faced J'onn appeared to be more than a little bit surprised. Diana looked around; she knew that her revelation would be met with shock, but this was more than she'd expected. She continued slowly.

"Anyway... We've decided that we'll be getting married soon."

This sent the room into chaos once more; the Flash, who was just standing up, fell to the floor once again, the Green Lantern dropped his coffee mug completely, Shayera's jaw dropped to the floor and Superman lost control of his strength and unintentionally pulled the table in half.

Diana realized that she should have seen this coming, and maybe eased into these two revelations. Superman was the first to recover.

"Wow... Congratulations. But... How's Bruce handling it?"

Diana laughed a little. "He won't admit it, but he's terrified. He's doing the two things that he was sure that he'd never do. He'll manage, though. Anyway... The wedding is going to e a bit small. We can fill you in on the details later, but it's going to have to be avoid scrutiny, but we're taking measures to make sure that you can all attend... I think that that just about covers everything..." She turned to leave, leaving everybody in the room reeling in her wake.

Author's Note: I'm sorry that I had to bring up the most foreseeable and cliched plot twist of all time, but I felt that it was appropriate. Just one more chapter left. It should be up later today; I have a 5 hour shift at work, but it's relatively early, so I'll be able to write when I get home. I'm guessing that it'll be up around 1 or 2 AM (US east coast time). If not, then it might have to wait until late tuesday; I'm going to see Green Day on Monday, and I'll be busy on Tuesday too. But keep checking back in, and I'll get it done as soon as I can.


	34. Forever

Author's Note: Here we go... The final chapter. It makes me very sad to end the story, but it has to end somewhere. No worries, I'll get right on the sequel. But there'll be time for me discuss that at the end of the chapter.

Batman crouched over the edge of a building on the outskirts of the city. He'd been waiting for several hours, but he was prepared to wait for as long as necessary. Unbeknownst to him, Wonder Woman had followed him. She landed silently several yards behind him. He spoke without turning around.

"I told you to stay at home."

"I decided not to listen."

"I mean it. It's dangerous."

"I appreciate the gesture, but I can handle myself."

Bruce simply continued to glare ahead. He knew that she was perfectly capable of defending herself (and her child), but he had a bad feeling about that night. But then again, he had a bad feeling about every night. Diana stepped forward to stand next to him. He couldn't help but notice the gold plates of her armor glinting in the moonlight out of the corner of his eye.

"I needed to talk to you anyway. I''ve just visited my mother. She's arranged for us to be allowed to visit Themyscira for a marital ceremony."

"I thought there were no exceptions to the rules banning men from the island."

"It's very important to her. She'll find a way to make it happen." She looked at him for a moment. "When are you coming home?"

"When the job is finished."

"And what job would that be?"

"The mob is moving to rob the Gotham National Bank tonight."

Wonder Woman rolled her eyes. "Can't the cops in this town do anything?"

"No idea. They don't have to."

"Well... I can tell you right now that you're going to be taking a lot more nights of in the very near future."

"Whatever you say, Princess."

Just then, an explosion rang out through the night. Two men wearing shady overcoats ran out through the smoke that was pouring of the wall of the bank, and climbed up an emergence ladder, taking them to a nearby rooftop. Batman leapt into action. Diana knew that she would be able to help him easily, but decided to let him have his fun.

Batman jumped down to confront the thieves. His eyes narrowed as he stared them down. The thieves pulled out handguns and began to shoot at him. However, they were rather poor shots, and he managed to dodge the bullets easily, throwing a batarang to disarm both men. He launched himself at the closer foe, throwing his cape out behind him to increase his bat-like appearance. He tackled the man forcefully, knocking him to the ground, and flipping to neatly land on his feet. The other criminal tried to throw several punches, but Batman quickly sidestepped them all, countering with a punch powerful enough to knock him unconscious. The Gotham Police arrived soon, but by the time they arrived, the thieves were both subdued and Batman had vanished without a trace.

Batman had jumped to a much higher rooftop, which proved to be a perfect vantage point for the thieves' arrest. Wonder Woman joined him shortly.

"You always have to be theatrical, don't you?"

"They have to learn somehow. The police would have gotten them, but then they'd be back to working for the mob. I can't guarantee that they won't be turning back to crime now. It's not just about catching the criminal. You have to send a message."

"And that message is...?"

"That I'm the goddamn Batman."

Author's Note: It's done! Please, leave me a review and tell me what you think of the final product. I'm still willing to take notes; it'll be a huge pain, but if people send suggestions that could improve the story, I can still go back and edit. So please keep that in mind. By the way, whoever gets the DCAU reference in this chapter gets... Well, nothing really. But maybe if your standards are low enough it could boost your ego a bit.

Now... I have some people to thank for this. First of all...

You guys. I've gathered some readers from all around the world, and it warms my heart to see so many of you coming back to read every time I post a chapter. I hope that you'll continue to stick with me through the sequel.

Next, the reviewers. The support really kept me going, and the constructive criticism was a huge help in writing dialogue and fleshing out the characters.

My main inspiration for writing this story was the Sonic the Hedgehog fic _Ancient Ways, Ancient Evils_ by Hero of Winds; that was the main catalyst. I remembered reading it a very long time ago, and decided to look it up again. It really inspired me, and motivated me to write this story. It seems that he's been inactive for a while, but the aforementioned story is finished, and I would highly recommend reading it. It's very engaging.

This one is a bit strange... But my heartfelt thanks go out to Alice Cooper. His music was an important influence on how I wrote the Joker's character, and even inspired some of the Joker's schemes. Long live Alice!

Finally, all the other artists that I borrowed chapter titles from. Like I said, feel free to drop me a line if you want a complete list of songs: I've checked through, and they form a fairly accurate representation of the story arc, and even open the story to work on more than one level.

Now for my future plans. I've got some ideas cemented for a sequel; it probably should be filed under crossovers, but I think that it will end up in the JL section, just so I can keep myself organized that much more easily. Like I mentioned before, it will feature several characters from the Marvel Universe, but, due to my limited exposure to Marvel, I'm going to be using the settings used by movies. I may have to use some artistic license to make things work, but any changes that I do decide to make will be very clearly marked. Anyway... I think that's it. And yes, most of this chapter was just a setup for that last line.


End file.
